LIVING
SPIRITUAL LIFE DEVELOPMENT
Compassion in an impoverished world by JOANNA POLAREK
The word compassion is defined by Merriam–Webster as the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” In other words, having compassion is when you feel someone else’s burden, and your reaction is to want to help relieve that burden. The intentional response to a feeling is part of the human process of reacting to our surroundings, but there are times when we are unsure about the next step. Can you relate? Feeling compassion for our communities, states, countries, and world can be influenced by how connected we are to others’ distress. We can desensitize ourselves when the burden doesn’t directly relate to us. For example, local or international news reports highlight the daily suffering people face. Wars, racial and religious discrimination, poverty, and many other turbulent issues face us locally and globally. We may feel sympathy for people, but compassion is the next step to help alleviate their distress. Jesus regularly showed
24
compassion. Galatians 5:14 (Amplified Version) says, “For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit].” This scripture shares the wisdom we should live by and defines compassion. A familiar parable told by Jesus in Luke 10: 25–37 relates precisely to the differences between compassion and indifference. A man is beaten, stripped of his clothing, and left on the side of the road for dead by robbers. At two different times, people walk by this man. We know they saw him because the parable tells us they went
around the man and that they didn’t want to get very close. But to be clear, these men did not show compassion. Perhaps they felt bad for the man, but they had no desire to alleviate the distress or provide care for him. So then, a third man walks down this same road and encounters this man who certainly has been lying on the road for quite some time. This third man feels compassion. We know this because as the story is told, we learn that he provided first–aid, transportation to an inn, paid for the stay, and offered to cover further expenses. Can you relate to the men who walked by or to the man who stopped to help? Or perhaps to the man who was beaten and left on the side of the road. Not physically, but are you in a season where you feel defeated, weak, and helpless? Or maybe you have seen someone in need in your community, church or family but were unsure how to take that next step to help, so you ignored
Volume 9 Number 1, 2023