“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”
Henri Nouwen
Compassion requires us to enter into our true humanity. It is a truly beautiful way of life. When we allow compassion to take us over, many of the results may be seen as weakness in our culture today. This weakness that is unlocked through compassionate living gives way to trust. We are called to be weak in ourselves, to embrace the weakness of those around, and in doing so find all that we need in our Father.
When I think of compassion, I think of the people who have entered my hurts with me. The ones, as Henri Nouwen wrote, who have mourned and wept with me in my brokenness. These qualities build that deep trust that many of us look for in so many places. When I look at brokenness throughout the Bible, I see compassion. Also, I see a God willing to meet with his people.
God moves in brokenness. He moves in weakness. He moves in tears and pain. He moves in sackcloth and ashes. As I begin to look out at our world, I see that we are “strong.” Well, we think that we are. If we were willing to adopt a mindset of weakness, then we could meet people where they are in their lives. This allows us to be modest in our living by creating a community of compassion.
In this we find that compassion brings depth to our lives. It is compassion that allows us to see what love looks like in action. Frederick Buechner wrote, “Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It’s the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.” This is how life is to be lived. A life of weakness with one another through love will always be better than one of strength without love. There is no comparison.
A community that cultivates these qualities bears fruit. This is how Christ acted as he impacted the lives of so many as he physically walked on this earth. Now, he walks on this earth through you and me. These actions take a tangible form when we let them. We must learn to listen. Listening is how we connect with individuals in such a loud world. Listening and being present to those around us light the way to a compassionate lifestyle, a fruitful lifestyle that we are called to take part in each day.