A Thought to Heal the World

 "All those who do not visit the sick are like those who are guilty of shedding blood"  ~ Nedarim 40a

This powerful admonition flies across the ages to reach out to unborn generations.  what does the Talmud mean when it emphatically ascribes such guilt to those who ignore the ailing?
Level One: We take away the terrible loneliness of those who suffer when we attend to their needs.  By bringing them flowers, washing their feet, massaging their shoulders, or just speaking with them we assure them that they matter.  We communicate in a powerful way that their life counts.  They are not alone.  They have not been abandoned.  We care enough to make time to come and visit.  That act alone signals tremendous internal healing because it states that they are important.  Staying away leaves them feeling cast away like refuse, bereft.
Level Two: Who is not ailing?  Who lives such a static existence that they are not reduced to wondering if they matter?  Does not every person have such doubts?  Don't we all suffer from insecurity?  Lack of personal self-worth?
In this sense we are all sick.  We all suffer from the same inadequacies and internal pain.  What we need, others need.  Where we are lacking, others are lacking.