Compassion in act shun

Compassion without action, according to a poster I remember seeing promoting a day of outreach, is pity.

And pity isn't all bad, but maybe not the best we can do.

But would you say that compassion even with action can be pity sometimes? Or a result of guilt, maybe: I have lots of stuff, so I need to "give back".

Maybe compassion with action, or just action with or without compassion is a good thing. But maybe we can do better.

According to author Karen Armstrong in an interview on the Speaking of Faith radio program, compassion means "to feel with. Not to feel sorry for, but to say, 'If I were in his position, maybe I would feel the same.'"

So maybe compassion isn't related to action?

Are we willing to actually try to feel with instead of feeling sorry for?

Is that why we "do" missions? To "feel with" others instead of "feel sorry for" them or to "feel good about" ourselves?

During a recent worship service, when the father of a baby who was being baptized was recognized as a serviceman who was bound for a tour in Afghanistan, the congregation begin sporadic clapping and then applause and then standing ovation and then thunderous applause. The young man took this wife's head in his hands and put this forehead to hers and as they both cried, he seemed to say: "I feel what you're feeling, they feel what we're feeling, we feel what they are feeling." It was an act of compassion.

I'm not sure what people did as a result of that. I know the feeling in the sanctuary wasn't pity. And nobody really did anything other than stand and clap. And I don't think people felt guilty about not signing up to go and fight in Afghanistan. But people were feeling with the other.

Is that what living a life of compassion is about?

The bully at work: is it possible to try first to understand why they are such a bully before you see to it that they are called out and disciplined?

The duplicitous member of your small group that says one thing and does another: how do you get to the things that are making her do that? Are some of them the same things that you struggle with?

The person on your ministry team who won't really lead, but won't get out of the way either: how in the world could you ever get a glimpse at the pain and fear that led to this impasse of discipleship?

Feeling sorry for is a good start, but don't stop there.

See what feeling with leads to.