Compassion

Yesterday, as Kris and I were walking along, a baby squirrel dropped about 30 feet from the tree above us. It lay on the ground crying and squirming, but unable to do anything, as it was too tiny (eyes were still not open). Another young man, walking in the opposite direction, also saw the baby. He stopped to see if there was anything that could be done. I ran back to my building to find something to put the baby in to carry it (I don't know where... just off the sidewalk... maybe to a vet?).

When I returned the young man was holding the baby in his hands, and it was obvious that it wasn't going to survive. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and handed the squirrel to me. As I was holding it, it gently stopped breathing. We were both crying. We decided to bury it under the bushes, near where it fell.

I was touched by the compassion of that young man, who cared enough to give the dying baby the comfort to die peacefully in warm hands instead of alone on the wet sidewalk. Sometimes I think we're so busy in the rush of life that we don't take time for the small acts of kindness (even to the smallest of God's creatures).