Kinsey, 11, provides a small example of identifying with the needs of others: "When somebody was out of paper, I gave them a few sheets of paper. It's the reverse of selfishness and self-centeredness. Mercy identifies with the needs of others. Some of the abused children came to the orphanage because their parents intentionally maimed them so that they could beg more effectively on the streets. In India, I visited a Christian couple who started an orphanage for abandoned and abused children. "We drown even children, who at birth are weakly and abnormal," wrote Seneca, the Roman philosopher and contemporary of Jesus. "Let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared," wrote Aristotle in his celebrated book "Politics." For those of us who have lived in a society influenced by Christian compassion, it's difficult to imagine the callousness of a pagan society. He said the best way to prevent a nervous breakdown is to find a needy person you can help. If you're skeptical about showing mercy, consider the advice of psychiatrist Karl Menninger. As Christina, 6, says, "If someone is bad to you, forgive them."
The golden rule is still golden, but Jesus went a step further when he spoke of loving your enemies. "It reminds me of the golden rule, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" "This verse means if you give mercy, you shall receive it," says Anna, age 9. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7).
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