Guideposts

I have been reading Guidepost magazine for years.  I read every one cover to cover.  I find them amazingly inspirational.  This month, there is a short article titled "Bench Buddies".  A child and his parents were investigating schools in Germany in anticipation of a possible move there.  On one of the school's websites, a special bench was seen.  Kids who felt lonely sat on it to signal that they wanted an invitation to play.  The family did not end up moving but when the child, Christian, started second grade, the family bought a bench, painted it and put it on the playground.   After explaining its purpose to the students, a kid does not have to sit on the bench for long before a buddy asks him to play.  Now schools across the country have their own buddy benches....buddybench.org.  It got me thinking that what if there were benches for things like....I just lost a spouse....or...I'm going through a divorce....or... my teenagers are driving me crazy...or....how long before I stop missing my dog.....Most peoples' issues are unknown and maybe if we had benches we could react quicker and use our past hurts to help others get through a tough time.  I think they also call that empathy.