"Trainwrecks" and compassion

I've heard more than one person say they're not going to read or discuss any of the past week's "trainwrecks" (by which they usually mean the Astronaut Love Triangle Thing and Anna Nichole Smith's death)...and while this response may well be right for the people speaking, I feel differently.

While the glee with which the media greets such spectacular tragedies is certainly unseemly, I don't think turning away is right either. I mean, most people who read the news don't know either of these two personally and can't do anything about either situation - but I think it's a good thing to apply lessons learned to our own lives.

I genuinely feel sorry for both these women. They seem (or seemed) so lost - in spite of the fact that they both had a lot going for them in a certain area (in one case, looks; in the other, brains), but clearly they ran into more than they could handle and they broke under the strain.

We all have our breaking points. I fully believe that it's the duty of the strong to protect the weak - and I don't mean just physical strength, I mean mental, emotional, whatever is needed. I'm not talking about enabling or encouraging dependence. Sometimes the strongest and best thing we can do is to walk away. But not always.

People do strange things when they feel a lack of love in their lives. I wish I was better at sharing my faith; I think it's better to turn to God when you feel like you need unconditional love, because too often, people can't give it. God always can.

And yet - you can't share faith with someone who isn't ready to hear it, either. That does more harm than good...which is why it's still up to us to help each other.

We're our sisters' keepers.