Teaching Compassion

As Christa approached the room, she heard her four-year-old daughter’s voice speaking softly from inside, “You are okay, Grandmother Bea. We are here to help you and you are doing a good job, Grandmother Bea.”

Christa had left her two children, Adam and Joy, in the room with Grandmother Bea while Christa went to answer the phone. Adam, age seven, and his sister Joy were on either side of Bea’s bed, each holding one of her hands, each intently focused on the person they were there to serve.

Bea was an elderly neighbor whom they had loved to visit nearly their entire lives. This time was different, though; Grandmother Bea was dying and lay in a bed, communicating her love through her gentle eyes and smile, no longer speaking. The children had always enjoyed being able to help Bea in any way they could — by getting her a glass of water or sitting and talking with her. Now the best thing they could do to serve her was to be with her, holding her hand and gently stroking her hair. Bea smiled softly in response.

Christa waited outside the door and observed the children’s interaction with Bea for several minutes. She was struck by the magnitude of their interaction, the care and compassion shown by the children. The children remained totally focused on caring for Bea during the several hours they spent with her that day. They had volunteered as a family to spend time caring for Bea during her last days.

It would be easy to say these children were just naturally compassionate and particularly loving. However, they had been taught from infancy, through experiences like visiting an elderly neighbor, about focusing on someone or something outside of themselves.

When goodwill, compassion, and service are taught to children from an early age, these traits are strengthened and can be expressed in many ways. Like a bulb that reveals a beautiful flower only after it has been watered and fed nutrients from the soil, parents and others can nurture these qualities.