Compassion
29 08 2008
From Strong's Concordance:
"Compassion - σπλαγχνίζομαι; splagchnizomai - Pronounciation= splänkh-nē'-zo-mī - to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)"
It made me laugh to learn that in biblical times, compassion was most closely related to a tummy ache. However, the idea that something could move you so much that it, well, "moved" you is interesting. I don't know that I've felt any symptoms of this sort of compassion before, but I know that I have felt sympathy with other's sufferings.
I've never had my things washed away in a tsunami or cyclone. I've never lost everything I've had to a fire. Really, my life has been pretty much devoid of all catastrophic things. Hence my lack of empathy. I've never been there, I don't understand the feeling the way that other people do. For instance, my wife is about to have a baby. She keeps having contractions and trying to explain how they feel to me. "They're kinda like having a really bad back ache (I can empathize), but the pain is all over your abdomen (no idea what she means)." Without actually carrying a child myself, I really can't empathize.
What I can do is sympathize. I don't like seeing her in pain. I get her hot packs for her aches and bring her drinks when she's too hot. I don't know what she's feeling exactly, but I don't like it. The same goes for victims of major disasters. Just because I haven't experienced it, it doesn't mean that I can't or don't care. I can feel sorry for those who lost their homes and lives in Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in China. I can send money to the Red Cross. I really can be moved to the point of emotional pain by the pain that others feel.
This is the embodiement of Compassion. Being so sympathetic to someone's pain that it drives you to do something about it. This is why we start Compassionate tonight. There is pain in the world, and Jesus calls us to do something about it. "He saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion..."
7PM tonight in the New Buisness Building, Room 110.
