"The life of Jesus embodies for Christians the very essence of compassion and relational care. Christ's example challenges Christians to forsake their own desires and to act compassionately toward others, particularly those in need or distress." (819)
   Jesus is one of the greatest examples of how we should live our lives. Even though it is impossible for us to be exactly like Him, the more we attempt to model our lives after Him, the better. Jesus was a very compassionate and forgiving person. He cared for everyone, regardless of wealth or status. He didn't care about who was the most popular or who had the nicest clothes. Sometimes we get caught up in only wanting to be associated with the "cool" kids or the prettiest girls, but in the end does that really matter ? It's easy to forget what is really important. 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."(Matthew 6:19-21)  
     

"Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to the Jain tradition. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence." (822)
 Jainism "is an ancient religion from India that teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to live a life of harmlessness and renunciation. The aim of Jain life is to achieve liberation of the soul." (BBC-religion) It is very interesting how many different religions have over-lapping ideals and beliefs. No matter what you believe in or who you believe in, compassion should be an important part of your life. You do not have to believe in anything to know that having compassion for any life is important. This compassion goes further than just humans however. You should be compassionate for animals as well. In Jainism they also believe that to kill any person regardless of circumstance is wrong. This is a very interesting belief that some people might or might not agree with. Every religion is different and there is most likely one that you match up with perfectly!



"Industrial growth, technological advancement, population overload, over-exploitation of natural resources, and the brutality of the human community toward other life-forms on the planet have caused an unprecedented environmental and ecological crisis."(838)
 Is the world going through a crisis? Most people would probably say yes without a question. "The planet's increasingly inhospitable climate and depleted resources mean we have little room for more humans, especially the 10 billion or more expected to stress the planet's already overweight system by 2100."(alternate.org) When you think about it, we are slowly beginning to run out of space due to the increasing number of babies being born every year. That is crazy to think about when considering that when God created the earth it was just Adam and Eve. Who would of thought that technological advances could also contribute to an unprecedented environmental and ecological crisis? Is it due to the fact that since we believe technology is so advanced that we don't have to pay as much attention to our ecosystem ? "Some environmentalists argue that the root cause of our ecological crisis lies in industry and technology. This leads them to stress that "industrialism" is the problem and that needs to be eliminated."(anarchism.pageabode.com) So what is it going to take for us to make a change? Maybe once things get really bad, we will start to make some serious changes.