Compassion and Forgiveness: The Pillars of Moral Development

During the spring season the entire forest in Florida looks like the Eden garden. In the summer, different plants and trees blossom with such beauty. It was few years ago when a beautiful red rose blossomed in Florida. There were different kinds of flowers and the rose was one of them. Near to the rose, there was a pine tree. The pine was so caught by the charm of the rose that it said, “How beautiful rose this is! I wish I could be like that”. When the rose looked around, it found that all the other plants and trees were looking at it. This made the rose become proud. There was another cactus plant that grew near by the rose. Out of its pride, the rose said, “Look at this ugly plant full of thorns. It is of no use”.

Though the rose humiliated the cactus, it gave no reply but only smiled. The spring season passed and winter appeared. Every corner of the land became warm and dried up. Life in Florida became hard because there was a scarcity of water. One morning, the rose saw a sparrow sit on one if the tree trunks of the cactus, stick its beaks into the plants and then fly away. The rose asked the pine, what the bird was doing. The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus. “Does it not hurt when they make holes?” asked the rose. “Yes, but the cactus does not like to see any birds suffer,” replied the pine. The red rose felt too ashamed of its past talk and behavior to ask for water from the cactus. The cactus kindly agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water and watered the rose’s roots. Kindness, compassion and forgiveness are the basic moral pillars of life. When we grow up, we learn these arts as a part of our development.

We human beings are social and cannot live an isolated life. No one wants to be a monarch of a solitary island. And to live in a society, it is very important to be compassionate, kind and forgiveness. Parents are probably the best teachers who could nurture these characteristics among children. In our developmental period, we come across different conflicting situations. If your child is going through any such situation, try to talk to the child about the conflicts and teach the human values, forgiveness and letting go. Kids should always be taught the art of living in a group. There are various group activities that parents can organize to make kids aware of the social belongings. Setting an example of good moral character can lead the kids to nurture these in themselves. Teaching a child to let go of anger and forgive is not necessarily simple. Kids are still wrestling with their understanding of themselves, that they are not perfect and make mistakes and the embarrassment that goes with it. Helping kids to learn to forgive is helping them to learn about and accept their own imperfect humanity. It's not going to happen in an instant. Forgive and teach forgiveness for a healthier and more balanced family.