Tenderness is the Language of Children

says Pope Francis in this TED Talk filmed April 2017. 

My summary: “When one realizes that life … is a gift, that love is the source and the meaning of life, how can they withhold their urge to do good to another fellow being? In order to do good, we need memory, we need courage and we need creativity.

“The ‘you’ is always a real presence, a person to take care of. Mother Teresa said: “One cannot love, unless it is at their own expense.”

“We are precious…. Every one of us is irreplaceable…. every one of us can become a bright candle…. A tiny flicker of light that feeds on hope is enough to shatter the shield of darkness.  

“Tenderness … starts from our heart and reaches the eyes, the ears and the hands. Tenderness means to use our eyes to see the other, our ears to hear the other… to use our hands and our heart to comfort the other, to take care of those in need. Tenderness is the language of children, of those who need the other.”