Well, it's not some namby-pamby term for letting people get away with murder, that's for sure. It's a state of mind, a perspective, a window on reality that comes from living in conformity with the One Life Principle. If indeed we are all One, then whatever one of us can do, we are all capable of doing-to one degree or another. Simply put, inside each of us is a potential artist, humanitarian, terrorist, or child molester. What we choose to express and manifest in this life depends on where we concentrate our energy, but our potential for both "positive" humanitarian actions and "negative" terrorist actions always exist. Compassion is the process of identifying how energy is being expressed at any given time and then aligning our actions with our highest potential as spiritual beings.

When we look into the eyes of our lover, we identify with love and automatically respond lovingly because it makes us feel good. When we witness a brutal act of destruction, we correctly identify hate as the energy behind the situation. As carnal beings, our automatic reaction may be to respond in kind, but as spiritual beings, we can choose to show compassion instead. If we desire everlasting life, freedom and justice, rather than death, restriction, and revenge, we respond out of love and let the chips fall where they may knowing that the energy that has created us and that sustains us will take care of the rest. Compassion is not about letting another person off the hook or about ignoring the consequences of hate crimes; in fact it's not about other people, places, situations, or things at all. It's about giving ourselves unrestricted access to the energy of the One Life in order to create what we want to experience. Compassion is the highest expression of spiritual power. When we love those who hate us, we identify with the creative energy of the universe, not with the circumstances we might face. The next time we're confronted with hateful people or conditions, we have to make a decision. Will we allow ourselves to create our own reality or will we let reality create us?