It's a great thing to feel love for those
we pity. Pity invokes universal love from the good and the
merciful. Feeling sorry for another person's plight has the effect of
putting us in their shoes, fertilizing our imagination with their suffering.
That we should not have to suffer the same burdens simultaneously makes us feel
grateful and compassionate toward the person affected. It lets us
pretend, just for a moment, that we are that suffering person; that their
trials and tribulations are happening to us, just as they are to them. It
allows us to become them at the expense of our ego, by relinquishing our grip
on the self. This is why a self-centered person cannot feel pity to the
same degree as a selfless one. Only those who are able to love through
pity are Christlike, offering their feelings to a greater power, one that
likens them to being nailed to the cross with him, punishing themselves for the
sins of mankind. Pity is the road by which saints travel to perish,
giving up their lives in a quest for miracles.
There is another kind that isn't so
saintly. Feeling scorn for those we pity is the antithesis of the
selfless kind. Scornful pity makes us disgusted in another person's
plight, causing an aversion to their being. While it's true that the
nature of their plight can make us feel one kind or the other, generally one
should strive to feel the loving kind, for it is far more beneficial to
everyone involved. Likewise, our perception of the person can persuade us
to feel one kind over the other, usually as an attempt to reconcile our
confirmation bias. The plight of someone you view negatively will likely
arouse scorn, whereas someone you view positively might receive the loving pity
they deserve. Yet I say that those you view negatively should not be
judged when they are in dire straits. Open your heart to them; forgive
them of their faults; let awareness show how your negative feelings are really
reflections of yourself. Then you'll be better able to love
unconditionally, with stars in your eyes and pious intent in your heart.
