DEUT435 God as our model. Because we more easily perceive our separation then our oneness with others, we slip in the judgment more easily then we rise to compassion. We need to be told to walk in God's footsteps by acting to cultivate compassion in our hearts. Imitating the divine trait of compassion is not just a lovely idea. We are assured that it is within our grasp to do so, however, because "he will bestow upon you [the attribute of] compassion and show mercy to you 26 the capacity for compassion is in it within us. But to bring that quality from potential to actuality, we need to take steps to confront the obstacles to compassion. … The primary barrier to being compassionate is the sense that you and I are separate from each other.… Compassion can come into existence only when you lower the barriers that ordinarily while off and isolate your own sense of self. … And draw closer so that we can feel within us the truth of that other person's experience, and so sees with her with eyes of compassion...