“More important than any particular action or word of advice is the simple presence of someone who cares. . . We have lost the simple but difficult gift of being present to each other . . . we have been led to believe that presence must be useful . . . we have forgotten that it is often in ‘useless,’ unpretentious, humble presence to each other that we feel consolation and comfort.”
From Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life by Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison