The Human Condition

There is kinship in acquaintance.
The convention that consanguinity
represents a firmer bedrock
of emotional attachment
than does random and frequent
relations between people is
simply not necessarily so. When
chance and constant encounters
provide the opportunity to
discourse on the personal
those in the torment of uncertainty
for the future, suffering the
crises of failing health, confide
their fears and suffering wholly
trusting that what they disclose
will raise the empathy of another
and understanding will flow to
give comfort. It is a little thing
we do, to proffer genuine concern
for the welfare of others, but its
effect a powerful message of care.