We have witnessed another horrific tragedy.  A young man went into a school in Florida and killed former classmates and teachers.

Why?

Many will tell you it was the fault of the gun that was used.

Others might blame the education system that expelled him, or the mental health system that failed him.

Lt. Col Dave Grossman writes that it is the fault of life-like training from violent video games combined with the brain’s dopaminergic reward system hijacked by processed foods and energy drinks.  (Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill, 2014)

You might read the details of the killer’s personal life, and find explanations there.

Some might suggest it was the bullying he experienced, both at school and on social media.

Viktor Frankl would suggest the degradation of traditions and values in the psychological sense, not and maybe even the political sense, has led to an existential vacuum of meaninglessness for our youth.

These are all possible explanations.  Some of those explanations might even contain solutions.

But there is no simple single solution.

As much as I like to think I have solutions for many problems, I don’t have the answer for this one.

But I heard an idea at church recently that relates to this tragedy, and to a lot of other problem in our world today.

Compassion.

Compassion was defined as the ability to understand another’s perspective, to embrace their emotions, and to respect their humanity.  Other definitions that suggest compassion is empathy and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

Many philosophies and religions have written on the idea of compassion over the centuries.  No single belief system has ownership over the idea.  Compassion is something we can all use.

Nothing may have stopped this young man – not even compassion.  But could his course have been altered with more compassion in his life?  Would compassion from others have changed something?  Equally as important, can we stop this from happening in the future with showing more compassion, rather than arguing about what the solution is?

Just as a rocket’s course is altered more drastically when impacted at the beginning of it’s path, so a person’s life can be altered more dramatically when impacted early on – early on in age, or early on in the development of some potential issue, regardless of age.

What would happen if we showed more compassion to each person we came in contact with each day – just a little understanding of their perspective, or even an attempt an understanding of their suffering?  How could each of us change the life of everyone we came in contact with, just a little, perhaps significantly, if we sought to accept their humanity and embrace or even heal their misfortune?

Take it a step further – what if we encouraged others to be more compassionate?  How could we impact lives if we role modeled compassion for our children, our spouses, our friends, our coworkers – or even those people we come across in life we don’t know as well?  How many dozens – or even hundreds – of people would we impact?  How many thousands could they impact?  Could we spread compassion faster than the next viral cat video to show up in our social media stream?  I tell you, it’s a lot harder that clicking “share”, but I bet it’s a whole lot more rewarding and meaningful.

So I challenge you, as I challenge myself today, to live compassionately.  We will be bombarded by images, ideas, and emotions.  Let compassion be a part of it for you – spread it to others.  Today and every day.  Write it somewhere and keep it in front of you – on a note, on your phone, in your social media, on your arm.  Take a moment to define compassion for yourself.  Show compassion, behave compassionately toward each person you come in contact with today, then tomorrow, then every day.  Share this idea with others – maybe it is as simple as forwarding this article to them – continue to dream of a day when we spread compassion better than we spread suffering.  Please.  -Dan