The Case for Compassion

Too Tired to Care?

Compassion fatigue. We've known for years that overexposure to trauma can produce hopelessness and cynicism in caregivers, educators, and first responders. In 2012, journalist Nicholas Kristof extended this notion to the broader public, saying that relentless images of suffering and tragedy can be overwhelming, shutting down our ability to care.

Rationally, we know this doesn't make sense. We know that a world without civility and compassion is more likely to produce anger and violence. And yet the ability to care about others beyond our immediate circle of family and friends seems inordinately difficult.

Searching for Insights: The Axial Age

Over the last decade, a number of researchers have turned to the past to understand the evolution of human thought. Their focus: the era between 800 and 200 BCE, a period in history that German philosopher Karl Jaspers (1953) called the "Axial Age" because of its pivotal role in the development of human spirituality.

Jaspers was intrigued by the emergence of similar intellectual movements across four regions of the world: China, India, Israel, and Greece. It seems the world's great spiritual traditions - Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the Abrahamic religions - evolved simultaneously . . . and in total isolation from one another.

Axial Age Lesson 1: Violence Breeds Compassion

Both anthropologist David Graeber and religious historian Karen Armstrong give us answers to these questions. At first glance, both agree that the Axial Age is a strange place to look for guidance. It was an exceedingly violent and ugly time.

The key point, according to Graeber, is that the great spiritual traditions emerged in opposition to these materialistic notions that were inextricably bound to the violence and "mercenary logic of Axial Age warfare."

Axial Age Lesson 2: The Practical Wisdom of Compassion

Armstrong argues that two insights are embedded in each Axial tradition: that "suffering is an inescapable fact of life" and that other people's suffering is as important as our own.

Core to Axial spirituality was a deep and abiding belief in the power of compassion. However, Armstrong notes, the Axial sages would have scoffed at our current notion that compassion is a soft skill.

The Ultimate Tip: When in Doubt, Try Patience

There is a middle way between hate and compassion, a response called patience. To be patient means to hold a larger view of life knowing that we will survive, and even thrive, despite life's ups and downs.

Patience reminds us to stop and take a breath. It reminds us to step away from the "doingness" of life to check in on our thoughts and feelings. It reminds us to relax the grip of our own expectations and judgments, and to extend more kindness to ourselves and to others.