ONW IT!

You don't own it until you experience it!

Owning Compassion

Two of the three did not own compassion. The “other side” is the wrong side. Pretending we do not see is still seeing while ignoring. Ignoring comes from ignorance of a situation. Compassion is easier when it is personal. Keeping life impersonal and compassion is easily ignored. We can sit like the three monkeys. Caring is an extension of pity. Perhaps we don’t value compassion enough because it is messy. Once we step into a messy situation, we may never get out of it. My life has been filled with stepping into messy situations like missions, counseling, benevolence, and chaplaincy. Retirement didn’t save me from these messy situations. It only gave me a little more freedom to surgically engage in them. I can attest that compassion will give you stories to tell. I think Jesus’ best compassion story was the Good Samaritan. Whether it was a real-life situation or merely a parable to illustrate real life matters little. Only one person in the story owned compassion.

James holds our feet to the fire. “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” (Jas.3:15-16) The haunting question is “What good is it?” The IT is faith. Faith without works is dead. Faith without compassion leads to deadness. John piles on: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17) There is another one of those pesky questions: “How can the love of God be in him?” Faith and love are tied to compassion, and compassion is tied to action-an experience.

The Samaritan had a story to tell around the table that evening because he experienced compassion and owned it. YOU DON’T OWN IT UNTIL YOU EXPERIENCE IT.