Matthew 9:36 NIVUK
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,
because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.WHAT IS COMPASSION?
"Compassion is the
sometimes-fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody
else’s skin.
It is the knowledge
that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace
and joy finally for you too."
Frederick Buechner, "Wishful Thinking."
According
to Oxford Dictionaries compassion is a noun that means sympathetic pity and
concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. It strikes me that I see
more compassion here in this complex than is often seen outside it.
There are
twenty flats tenanted by a variety of people, all with some type of disability
from mental health to physical health. Everyone looks out for one another, we are not supposed to give physical help
to each other (health and safety) but often someone will drop something and, if
they find it hard to pick it up and no support worker available, one of us will
pick it up for them.
We have
one lady who lives upstairs and is terrified of the lift. If there is no-one
going to be using the lift, one of the others will go up in the lift with her
then just come right back down.
There are
three tenants in hospital at the moment and the staff are taking it in turn to
visit them on their days off, even taking one of us with them if we ask. The
staff are not expected to do this and are certainly not paid for doing it but
like most people who work in the caring sector, they are full of compassion for
their ‘wee men and women’ so it’s no trouble for them.
We read
or hear in the news about the obvious lack of compassion in the world today.
Even in families we know there is often a lack of compassion among the members
of the family. Parents with no feelings for children and siblings with no clear
emotional ties to each other.
The story
of The Good Samaritan comes to mind, where a priest and a Levite passed a man
lying on the road badly beaten. Where was the compassion there? It was left to
a Samaritan man to give help to the injured man, a man who was deemed to be an
enemy of the Jews.
Jesus was
(is) all about compassion. He healed the sick in body and mine, regardless of
who they were, or the cost to Himself. Jesus was often exhausted by the end of
the day, but He still went out the next day and healed and taught as many as
wanted to hear Him or be healed by Him.
The only
time I can recall Jesus refusing to help someone was in Matthew 15: 21-28 when
a Canaanite woman asked Him to heal her demon possessed daughter. When she gave
Him an answer to that refusal Jesus granted her request.
How then
can we afford not to treat each other as Jesus treats us? Whether neighbour or
stranger Jesus expects us to treat them as we would surely treat Him. After all
which of us would know if it was Jesus we were shunning?
Prayer
Merciful
Saviour, we come today knowing we do not always treat other people in the way
You would approve. We forget that we are all equal in Your sight and should
show respect and empathy to everyone we come in contact with. No matter what
their station in life, no-one is better or worse than anyone else. We all need
Your understanding, help us to remember there is no ‘them and us’ in Your life
there is only ‘us’. We see evidence of Satan getting a foothold on earth and we
must do what we can to delay his progress. Help us to show Your love by how we
treat our fellow man or woman. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment