Compassion – a public virtue (one focused on our relationship with others)
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 3:12
God requires more of us than random acts of charity. It’s a monumental challenge to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” We know what makes us weep. But do we know the hidden anguish in the hearts of those around us? Do we get close enough to see the source of other people’s tears? Even more importantly, do we know what makes God weep? We can bring hope and healing, direction and protection. But we must go to others as Jesus did. He loved them. He knew what made them weep. And he wept with them.
I love the insides of people. I haven’t always. When I was in a place that I couldn’t allow myself to receive the compassion of God I didn’t have it in me to see the source of others pain because I wore mine like a blanket. If someone else hurt I wanted to say, “Really? Well I bet you don’t hurt as much as I do!” It was a game of who has it worse. “You think you have it bad? I have it worse.” It’s almost as if I carried the anger, hostility, resentment, disappointment, shame and loneliness like a badge of honor. And then someone said to me, “I’m sorry you have had it so bad.” I didn’t know how to accept the compassion but it made a mark on my wall of reserve. My eyes were opened to a different view. People could be nice. People could care. I let my guard down and before I knew it God grabbed me and pulled me out of the pit where the only thing keeping me company was self-loathing.
God’s light isn’t just a metaphor, it’s truth. Life is different when you trade light for darkness. Light gives new dimensions for you to spread out, it opens up your lungs so you can breathe and it takes the load off your shoulders so you can stand. God’s light takes your focus off the dungeonous four walls of your man-made pit and allows you to see the same hurts in others. Suddenly it’s not a contest. Suddenly you are not alone. Suddenly the weight of everything that defined you is now suffocating and you want to take it off, get rid of it. Ultimately you can’t even bear to see it on others and you want to help others take it off too. This is compassion.
BALANCE – a private virtue (one focused on our relationship with God)
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:41-42
Does God care about all the responsibilities we juggle in our daily lives? Of course. But He cares more that our lives demonstrate balance, the ability to discern what is essential and give ourselves fully to it. We may be able to juggle a lot of things at once, but we can only hold a few things. – Our Lord – our loved ones – our inner lives – our outward calling.
This morning before I sat down to read my devotionals and take some time in prayer I was already thinking of the day ahead, what is on my ‘to do’ list, how much could I get accomplished in a short amount of time. By the time I went to pick up the devotional my mind was on everything else but this quiet time with God. It wasn’t until I physically sat down in the chair that I recognized what was happening. My mind was sabotaging God’s time!
A verse of the hymn Be Still immersed into my crowded mind and calmed the waters. ‘Be still my love, know that I am God’ I stared into the space ahead of me and focused on this verse until I could get to a place of true quiet, quiet in my head. Then I reached out for the first devotional ‘Jesus Calling’ and the first sentence was ‘Give up the illusion that you deserve a problem-free life.” 🙂 I had to laugh. I read through the rest of the devotion and then decided what I needed to do for prayer this morning was just ‘be’. So I sat with God.
Do you find balance to be a hard virtue to grasp? Take five minutes and sit with God. Five minutes. It’s not a lot of time but it will change your outlook on your entire day. Five minutes with God sheds an abundance of light into your world.
Return the favor and smile at someone today. Be Gods’s light.
Blessings
Shannon