Compassion:

• Posted by Rev. Vivian Mary Graciolett September 3, 2013 - #  - 831 views
  Compassion:

  There is a widely
  told story that speaks to the value of compassion. It seems that a woman who
  lived a Tao-centered life came upon a precious stone while sitting by the banks
  of a running stream in the mountains, and she placed this highly valued item in
  her bag. The next day, a hungry traveler approached the woman and asked for
  something to eat. As she reached into her bag for a crust of bread, the traveler
  saw the precious stone and imagined how it would provide him with financial
  security for the remainder of his life. He asked the woman to give the treasure
  to him, and she did, along with some food. He left, ecstatic over his good
  fortune and the knowledge that he was now secure.
  A few days later the traveler returned and handed back the stone to the wise woman. "I've been
  thinking," he told her. "Although I know how valuable this is, I'm returning it
  to you in the hopes that you could give me something even more precious. "What would that be?" the woman inquired. Please give me what you have within yourself that enabled you to give me that stone.
  The woman in this story was living her life from a sacred place of
  compassion.