A Compassion Cocktail

I'm sure I'm not the first to define Existentialism as:
God is dead.
Get over it.
The book of Ecclesiastes might in turn be defined as:
God lives.
Get over yourself.
When I was at university, I found Existentialism to be compelling. Not the God is dead part, but the part that suggests that we might have the ability to live well and die with courage and dignity even if God were not in the equation.
I've always found Ecclesiastes to be heady stuff as well. Living well is not living for enjoyment, but it's a good second.
I just finished reading The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman. In this book a man loses a piece of his soul in a passionate act of selfishness and cruelty. The young girl who witnesses the scene loses her will to live. Both are redeemed by performing acts of compassion. In essence, the only way they could get on with life was to move past their own experience of joylessness and focus on the needs of others.
The dictionary definition of compassion is:
The deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another in the inclination to give aid or support, or to show mercy.
The proper mix of elements found in Existentialism, Ecclesisastes and compassion can be a powerful cocktail Consider this recipe:
Add together one living God as the base (the single spirituous liquor), the people around you as a modifying agent (aromatic wines, bitters or fruit juices that soften the raw taste of alcohol and enhance the natural flavors) and a dash of your abilities (the special flavoring and coloring agents). Stir with ice, strain into a glass and serve.
Other mixes are possible, but maybe not as powerful.