WATCHWORD:
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
Meditation:
Compassion
It was Easter Sunday and the family was getting ready to go to church. My daughter, age three or four, was dressed and ready to go. Somehow the front door was opened and our cocker spaniel puppy made a run for it. Out the door, down the yard, into the street, and directly under the wheels of a passing car. The keening cry of my daughter brought me on a run. I saw what had happened, scooped her up, held her close to me and returned to the house. She did not need to see what I had to do next.
Oh, how I wanted to change what had happened. I wanted to take away my daughter’s shocked pain and sorrow. I wanted Easter happiness to return. But the best I could do was to try to comfort my daughter and my wife. The role of a parent is sometimes all things to one person, or a whole family.
As a psychologist, I know there are different meanings to terms like pity, sympathy, mercy, and empathy, these are all part and parcel of compassion. We seek to find compassion and love in our daily lives, in much of what we do. Sometimes we are disappointed. I suppose we can look upon pity and sympathy as common everyday words that express how we feel when we observe another person’s pain in body, mind or heart. When the person suffering pain, is a close friend or loved one, we call it empathy.
I vividly remember a time when my loved one was suffering from an incurable lung disease and, oh, how I wanted to crawl inside her skin and take all that away from her. That’s a deep kind of empathy, the kind where you would risk life and limb to protect or save the one that is loved. Think Christ on the Cross.
I think that most humans believe in a power greater than themselves. If they don’t know the true God, they might think in terms of a substitute, a ‘higher power’ or an undefined ‘spirit’. The true God of the universe is not a substitute term, is not merely a mind. Is not just thought or eternally thinking thoughts. The God of the Bible is genuinely personal. How can I say that? Because the Bible uses personal pronouns to talk about the true and loving God. And a true and loving God is the personification of compassion.
Ray Stedman makes a convincing Scripture argument that our true and loving God actually feels: “He experiences a whole range of emotional reactions that are similar to our own. He laughs (Psalm 2:4), He grieves (Genesis 6:6), He hates (Psalm 5:5), He is patient (Nehemiah 9:30), and He is compassionate (Psalm 103:8). Scripture tells us God is eternal, just, all-good, wise, powerful, and loving. And because He is loving He is compassionate.”
When we love others, feel empathy or compassionate toward others, we are truly following the commandment that Jesus gave us to love as he has loved us, as personified by Christ on the Cross of Calvary. Amen.
Have You Earned Your Tomorrow, by Edgar A. Guest:
Is anybody happier because you passed his way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?
This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?
Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?
Or a churlish sort of “Howdy” and then vanish in the throng?
Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,
Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?
Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that’s slipping fast,
That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;
Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say,
You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?
Don’t Miss Valentine’s Day:
There will be a special Watchword posted next Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, entitled Making Love. You won’t want to miss that one! Stan
Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I ask that we come to know You so much more. We yearn for a deeper relationship with You! Please lead us by the power of Your Holy Spirit into every aspect of our lives. Embolden us to reach out with compassion and empower us to speak the truth in love, and to recognize when God this speaking to us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
