While everyone rushed to condemn Joe Wilson for his emotional outburst during Barack Obama's health care speech last year, a more noteworthy statement that he made was largely overlooked. As Tim Rutten reported in the L.A. Times, Joe Wilson "told radio talk-show host and Republican activist Hugh Hewitt that even though there's no support in the House for it, he'd like to see illegal immigrants denied emergency room care." Ouch.

Is it okay for us to help the "right" people, but not others? Does true compassion discriminate on any basis? If illegal immigrants started dying on the doorsteps of our hospitals, would we really be okay with that as a society? What would Jesus do? Would the great healer stand in the doorway and condemn those without American birth certificates to a preventable death?

Politics are irrelevant. Political parties are irrelevant. They do not matter in the grand scope of anything. What does matter is compassion and love.

Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
—Mother Teresa

Christ was a master who came to show us what is possible. He came to tell us that the only thing that exists is love. We weren't ready for that message, so we killed him. His death, too, is irrelevant. Only his life matters.

We don't really have to ask what Jesus would do, because he would do what Love would do. We know this. If we have chosen to follow his lead, then we should do the same. He said, "Ye are the light of the world. [Matthew 5:14]" He saw us as we really are:  the image of the divine God itself. We are his equals in God. But we don't always act like it.

Knowledge and ritual without compassion is empty.

There is only one love that loves unconditionally—the love of the Divine.

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important:  Love your neighbor as yourself.

It's easy to become blind to love. It happens all the time. Fear and the ego encourage us to close our hearts. We fear that something will be taken away from us or that we will be diminished in some way. We are afraid that if no one exists who is "less worthy" than we are, then we cannot feel worthy ourselves. To avoid this, we create an illusion in which God loves us more than someone else. But Love—Divine, unconditional Love—does not make distinctions. It does not sort people on the basis of their thoughts, actions, race, religion, or lifestyle. Instead, it recognizes the complete worth and divinity of every human soul, and of everything in this Universe, without exceptions.

In the book of Matthew, Christ left Jericho with a large crowd. He passed two blind men sitting by the road, who heard that Christ was among them and called out to him to have mercy on them. The crowd tried to silence these men, but Christ stopped and asked them what he could do for them—how could he serve them? They replied, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." Moved with compassion, Christ touched their eyes. The two men regained their sight and followed him.

This story is a metaphor for the human condition:  we are born into this world blind to who we really are, but we can regain our sight any time we want. We just ask for the grace and the understanding that is already present in us, and then we too can walk in the footsteps of the masters, whether their name is Christ, Buddha, Krishna, or Quan Yin. When our heart is open, we recover our spiritual sight.

Of course, the crowd who followed Christ and tried to silence the two men were, in truth, the blind ones, because their hearts were not open to these "other" men. It's easy to follow a spiritual master; it's quite another thing to claim mastery for yourself. To follow Christ without practicing love and compassion for others, is to be blind.

If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
—Mother Teresa

Everyone deserves love and compassion—especially those who do not give it to others. This is because they cannot give it to themselves; therefore, they need it the most.

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.
—Mother Teresa

To receive love and compassion, give it. The mere decision to live Love creates a chain reaction that will heal you and your life. Not everyone will want to hear this message of love or open their hearts. Love these people, because you were once like them. You ARE them. Their lives and their existence affect you. They are not separate from you. Christ knew this, viscerally. Everyone is Christ:  the poor, the lame, the blind, the prostitute, the tax collector, the politician. No one is beneath him because we ARE him. And this is why Jesus wept.

Related articles:

• Opening the heart
• We are One: All of our past lives
• You are a guardian angel
• Making exceptions to Love
• Who is right?
• Stuck in judgment ruts