One Act of Compassion at a Time

by Rev. Sheri
Spiritual teacher, writer, and founder of Angel Messenger

This week, I stepped outside and noticed the sky looked different.

It wasn’t the familiar blue of a Michigan summer. Instead, a soft haze stretched across the horizon, carried by smoke from the wildfires burning hundreds of miles away in Canada.

For a moment, I simply stood there.

Somewhere, families were wondering if they would have to leave their homes. Firefighters were working through exhaustion. Volunteers were stepping forward to help complete strangers. Wildlife was being displaced. Entire communities were waking each morning unsure of what the day would bring.

Standing in my own backyard, I found myself praying for neighbors I will likely never meet.

The smoke reminded me of something we often forget.

We are far more connected than we realize.

The suffering of one community rarely stays there. Sometimes it travels through the air we breathe. Sometimes it reaches us through the stories we read, the prayers we receive, or the quiet ache we feel when we witness another person’s pain.

Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly living in one another’s world.

As I prayed that morning, it struck me that compassion doesn’t stop at a border. It doesn’t ask whether someone lives in our town, our state, or even our country. Compassion simply recognizes another human being and quietly says, “Your life matters, too.”

It has been easy lately to feel overwhelmed.

There are wars and natural disasters. There are families struggling to make ends meet. There are communities facing uncertainty. Many people are feeling discouraged, anxious, divided, or simply weary from carrying so much for so long.

When we look at everything happening at once, it is easy to wonder what difference one ordinary person could possibly make.

Over the past several weeks, I have found my answer—not in the headlines, but in the emails arriving in my inbox.

Since launching the Compassion Kits for Her project, I have heard from girls and young women whose stories have stayed with me.

Some are experiencing homelessness.

Some are living in their cars.

Some are recovering from trauma.

Some are grieving the loss of someone they love.

Some are raising children while wondering how they will make it through another month.

Others simply need a little help while navigating a difficult season of life.

Every story is different.

Yet beneath each request is the same quiet hope:

“Will someone care?”

That question has changed me.

It has reminded me that compassion is rarely about solving every problem. More often, it is about reminding another human being that they do not have to face this moment alone.

Every Compassion Kit that is mailed carries practical supplies, but it also carries something far less tangible.

It carries dignity.

It carries encouragement.

It carries the quiet reminder that somewhere, someone chose kindness.

Every time someone sponsors a kit…

Every time someone gives a few dollars…

Every time someone offers a prayer for someone they have never met…

That quiet question is answered.

Yes.

Someone cares.

I think we sometimes imagine that Heaven works only through extraordinary moments.

But perhaps Heaven has always preferred ordinary people willing to love extraordinarily well.

A handwritten note.

A meal shared with a neighbor.

A comforting hug.

A whispered prayer.

A small package arriving in someone’s mailbox at exactly the right moment.

Compassion has always been one of Heaven’s favorite languages.

There is an old story about a child walking along a beach after a storm, gently tossing stranded starfish back into the ocean one by one.

An older man watched for a while before calling out, “There are thousands of them. You can’t possibly make a difference.”

The child bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it into the sea.

“It made a difference to that one.”

I think about that story often these days.

I cannot stop a wildfire.

I cannot heal every broken heart.

I cannot change every circumstance that causes another person to suffer.

But I can choose compassion.

I can offer a prayer.

I can encourage someone who feels forgotten.

I can prepare another Compassion Kit.

And together, we can make a difference to this one.

This family.

This neighbor.

This young woman.

This act of kindness.

One by one, compassion changes lives.

Perhaps the way we heal a hurting world isn’t by shouting louder.

Perhaps it begins by caring for the person standing right in front of us.

And perhaps that is how the light of Heaven continues to spread—not all at once, but one compassionate heart at a time.

With peace, love, and grace,

Rev. Sheri

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💗 Learn More About Compassion Kits for Her

The Compassion Kits for Her project was created to place practical support, encouragement, and hope directly into the hands of girls and young women facing difficult circumstances.

Every donation, every prayer, every act of kindness helps remind someone that they are not forgotten.

If you’d like to learn more about the project—or help place compassion directly into someone’s hands—we invite you to learn more here:

Compassion Kits for Her