Dedication of Merits

 I am wondering tonight, can dedicating merit really make a connection with others? I have been reciting transfer of merit after the group meditation sessions, and the thought came to my mind tonight that often reciting to all sentient beings can seem too abstract. I have even gone so far as to ask the participants to perhaps consider transferring merit to a specific person. I am not sure if it works, but I often feel that the point of practice is to put things deeply into heart. Otherwise, it only becomes a kind of ritual that is devoid of a felt meaning or sense.
   If a person cannot see themselves as worthy of the deepest love and understanding, unconditionally, would this not affect one's dedication? At times, yes, because the heart hasn't allowed itself to connect to the deepest realities of suffering and the human life. I myself have sometimes, in my tired moments, thought of life as just something to get through; I am not aware of the suffering that the mind has when it is looking for one thing and rejecting other things. I am just jumping to the next thing, not able to observe the suffering of this present existence.There is such a natural suffering in the mind that to be aware of it is to know natural compassion first-hand.
   If one were to see a creature struggling in a deep pond, naturally, a compassion arises. But can we also see that we are all creatures struggling, if not drowning, in the deepest lakes of suffering? Even when we feel pleasure, our whole mind no sooner becomes consumed in trying to keep that pleasurable experience, as though we had a precious jewel and we were protecting it against all the elements around us. To really stop to recognize this is to tap into something very heartfelt. It can also help us appreciate each other, as fellow swimmers, just trying in our own way to make it through the ocean.