For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer,... Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer,...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:35—40).

One of humankind's most redeeming characteristics is the capacity for compassion. We see it demonstrated on many planes, from the heroic to the ordinary.

We have countless opportunities to show compassion and minister to others as God would have us do, to serve those in need of one kind or another, whether they are part of our own families, neighbors, fellow Church members, people of other faiths, friends or strangers. It does not matter who it is in need, we are taught that we are to help "bear...one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2), "comfort those that stand in need of comfort," and "mourn with those that mourn" (Mosiah 18:9).

Sometimes, the best service comes in the simplest ways. For example:

The husband and father in one household was stricken by a debilitating stroke that left him paralyzed on one side of his body and unable to speak. As the years dragged on, fewer people visited. Among the most diligent who "came unto" the sick were three men: a Methodist, a Baptist and a Latter-day Saint. The three visitors stopped by individually and talked to him, helping him keep connected to the world outside his home. Sometimes, they just sat and shared silence.

The men followed different beliefs but served with similar dedication. Going about "doing good" was a common objective. Certainly, they exemplified the ideal taught by the Savior.

In a world so afflicted with sorrows and trials, each act of service helps bring a ray of hope, a moment of comfort or a glimmer of gladness. Most compassionate acts remain unheralded, and many are simple deeds of kindness, but some are of heroic proportions and become stellar examples.

Florence Nightingale recognized that there was more to life than the social events of her upper-class environment. Mystifying family, friends and society, she left England in 1854 to serve in an old warehouse that was set up as a hospital where thousands of Crimean War victims were treated. After she arrived at Scutari, a district of Istanbul, she fought bureaucracy and tradition just as she contended with the disease, infection and discomfort that accompanied the wounds of war.

One who observed her wrote: "For those who watched her at work among the sick, moving day and night from bed to bed, with that unflinching courage, with the indefatigable vigilance, it seems as if the concentrated force of an undivided and unparalleled devotion could hardly suffice for that first portion of her task alone. Wherever, in those vast wards suffering was at its worst and the need for help was greatest, there, as if by magic, was Miss Nightingale....(Within six months) the confusion and the pressure in the wards had come to an end; order reigned in them, and cleanliness; the supplies were bountiful and prompt; important sanitary works had been carried out. One simple comparison of figures was enough to reveal the extraordinary change: the rate of mortality among the cases treated had fallen from 42 percent to 22 per thousand" (Lytton Strachey, Life of Florence Nightingale, 1934; quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Quest for Excellence," Ensign, September 1992, p. 2).

Few of us will be called upon to render compassionate service of the magnitude provided by Florence Nightingale. However, each of us can do something to help someone. The visits of the three men to the one who was confined after a stroke demonstrated that, at times, just our presence is enough to make a big difference.