Hope, Compassion, Empathy, Sympathy and Love

In my understanding of life on earth, humans are among the only ones with self-awareness.  We are the only beings who understand what it means to be wronged and can choose our reaction to it.  We feel pleasure and pain.  We understand hope and despair.  To me, sometimes it appears we teeter on the precipice of a world gone mad. 

The powerful seek to divide and conquer to gain more power.  We are told who to hate.  We are to hate white, black, red, yellow etc.  We are to kill Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist etc. That group has what we want so we must steal and kill to get it.  Sadly, many believe such rhetoric.  I have never met someone from any group that doesn’t deserve hope, compassion, empathy, sympathy and love. 

When someone speaks harshly to us, do we respond with hope, compassion, empathy, sympathy or love?  When we see one in need, do we meet them with hope, compassion, empathy, sympathy and love.  Do we strive to meet that need? 

Humans are the only ones who can read this.  They are also the only beings who can fill the earth with hope, compassion, empathy, sympathy and love.  We are the only ones who can change the world.  Let the flood begin.