Compassion and the swing of heartbreak
We talked earlier about comparing grief to a journey through a Dark Forest. My daughter Sarah suggested that we could view helping as a sort of rocking motion where reassurance and compassion act as counterweights in the swing of heartache and heartbreak.
                      
“I AM IN PAIN!” say Friends at the Threshold where we meet. Whatever words they use, their source is in a heart in turmoil “YOU ARE IN PAIN,” we reply, “AND IT IS REAL, AND IT WILL SUBSIDE.”

We turn a Friend’s words into an antidote by altering them slightly and giving them back to the snake-bitten person. Therefore, if Friends say, "I am doomed to loneliness!" we can reply, "Loneliness is scary! But you are not doomed to it, you are a loving person." On hearing our response, Friends discover that we are striving to understand and are moving in harmony with them.