Managing your emotions Day 7 Compassion

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”Prv.16:24

God has revealed Himself in the Bible as the most compassionate God who liberates, forgives and heals. Yahweh declared “I have seen their humiliation and I hear their cry. I know their suffering. I have come down to free them from slavery and to bring them up to a land flowing with milk and honey”. (Ex.3: 7-8)

Lord Jesus just like his Father showed his mercy and compassion to the hungry, the sick, the maimed and the possessed. “Jesus saw the crowd gathered there and he had compassion on them. And he healed the sick”. (Mt.14:14). So compassion is not a mere emotion but an eruptive saving action!

The world suffers from Compassion deficit! In Today’s rush life we hardly notice the tears in the eyes of our colleagues nor hear the rumblings of their hearts. Even if we do, we get too busy with our tasks and targets, ambitions and celebrations! If ever you had noticed someone sad or lonely and had taken a moment to hold their hands or say a soothing word, you have no idea what a difference it had made to them then. Can you recall an instance when a colleague or your boss, sensing your pain or struggle, reached out with an encouraging word or just put their arm around you or clasped your hand tightly? Cost- benefit analysis makes no sense here! Does it?

Compassion unlike other emotions is an unmixed blessing that every one of us has received to reflect our Creator’s heart to our fellow humans and creatures. When you see someone in tears, in pain or in misery, your heart melts for the other and you spontaneously stretch your hand to wipe the tears. Some rush to help others forgetting their own miseries. There are still a few who in their redresses readily forego their comfort and freedom. Sometimes they even knowingly put themselves into misery. The compassionate heart of Jesus is par excellence. He came to the world to save us by his suffering, crucifixion and death. “But see how God manifested his love for us: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us and we have become just through His blood. (Rom.5: 7-8)

The modern version of compassion is empathy. It is not just pity or sympathy but being ready to put oneself in another’s shoes and feel with him/ her and willing to ease his/ her pain even if it brings discomfort to oneself! Feeling- Willing- Doing is the mantra of Compassion! There is self-forgetting and self-giving in every act of compassion once the other becomes sacred and holy! Compassion is the first phase of selfless service. Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy” ( Mt.5:7)

Lord, let me not turn a blind eye to those in need, but see your face in the suffering and be a good neighbor.