Grant me the courage

to feel what others feel,

to feel what I feel.

Grant me the courage

to see what others see,

to see what I see.

Grant me the courage

to turn towards other’s suffering,

to turn towards my suffering

rather than away.

Grant me the strength to see where we are all the same,

to feel our shared humanity

and to realize that the walls around my heart

are only an illusion of safety.

Remind me that I am protected by a power

that is vaster than the mind can ever understand.

Show me that when I allow myself to open

to the suffering in me

and around me

I help to open the shared heart of humanity.

- Patti Wardlaw