​I’ll cut right to the chase: Why don’t we methodically train all our children in love and compassion? Why don’t we intentionally attend to the practice everyday as adults?
 
One could argue that religion provides this training. At times, yes. Yet, religious lessons often teach compassion laced with division and intolerance. We need better.

​Thirty years ago, I was taking a graduate course in preaching with Ernie Campbell, former pastor of Riverside Church in NYC. He loved quips and quotes and encouraged every student to carry around a small notebook so that we could jot down items we stumbled upon. Among the handful of gems I remember him saying is this phrase:
 
We’re all vulnerable at the level of our assumptions.