Mark 5:19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
The story behind this scripture is when Jesus came upon the man who had been possessed by many devils and Jesus cast them into pigs. Those pigs then went into the ocean and died. The man who had been rid of the devils asked to go with Jesus when Jesus departed, but Jesus told him to go tell his story to his family and friends and to testify of how Jesus’ compassion blessed his life.
I like this story. It is a great example of how Jesus helped everyone, even those shunned by society. Maybe I should say PARTICULARLY those shunned by society. All of the acts of service done by Jesus Christ are because of His great love and compassion for the people around Him. He saw needs and He fulfilled those needs. He blessed the lives of everyone He came in contact with, whether they chose to accept those blessings or not.
Compassion is something that is easy to feel, but not always easy to act upon. Sometimes acting compassionate towards someone takes a great deal of effort. Compassion isn’t always something you can just ‘show’. Compassion is like any other virtue, it takes practice. Some people have the talent to be naturally compassionate and always know what to do to help people. Others have to work a little harder to know what to do. Personally, I am one of those people who has to think more. When someone is in need, sometimes it is super easy to know what to do to help them, like making them dinner or watching their children if they are going through an illness or some type of emergency. Other times it’s harder to know what to do, like if they’re just having a rough time emotionally.
This topic reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend at church shortly after I moved to Malaysia. She and I were talking about how I’d had a lot of transportation issues since I’d gotten there about a month prior. Her mom mentioned (after I told of how I’d been lost or stranded a few times) that I was fortunate I hadn’t ever been hurt and then told me of how her daughter had been injured while living in China. She tripped and fell face first while walking down a busy public sidewalk. I can’t remember why it was, but she was unable to brace herself with her arms, so she smacked her face into the concrete, broke her nose and knocked herself out. NOBODY helped her. She said she laid on the street for a while and still nobody helped her. Then my friend’s mother proceeded to tell of another story from the news about how a little girl (around 3 years old) was injured by a vehicle in Taiwan and she was left in the street for several hours. How awful. We discussed these occurrences for a few minutes and the conclusion we came to is that it is a cultural thing to not offer aid. Part of me wonders if it is just how society in general is turning.
One of the trends that has been growing stronger in recent years is that of general neglect. There are so many people in this country who are suffering and in need. What do we do for them? Do we take time to help those around us? Since I moved to Oregon at the end of October, I have seen a lot of homeless people and people begging on corners. It makes me so sad. I want to donate to them, but I, as do many others, worry that they will use that money for drugs, alcohol or things not directly related to their care and well-being. What can we do? Well, these people could probably use food. Run through a drive-thru and get them some food. That is one way we can be compassionate and help them out without feeling like we are wasting what we are giving. There are also some who are willing to work in exchange for food or money. My mom used to have the homeless people in our neighborhood (we lived near to a homeless shelter) do yard work and she’d pay them as well as cook for them. If you feel comfortable with it, give them some work to do and then give them a fair wage for it.
Those of us who are not comfortable with inviting strangers into our homes to work or receive shelter, we can donate time and money to organizations dedicated to helping those in need. Or we can volunteer at local hospitals, food banks, schools, etc. Schools in poorer neighborhoods would be so happy to have people come in and help out in the classroom or work one-on-one with kids who are struggling. Those kids would receive such a wonderful benefit. If your schedule is too irregular to be part of an organized volunteer effort, look to the people around you. There are probably people in your neighborhood or church who could use a helping hand. Single parents definitely could use a hand, people who are going through a difficult circumstance need support and encouragement, kids with absentee parents could use good role models to befriend them. There are so many people and situations that we could help out with and show compassion. We just have to look.
Another big part of compassion is our attitude towards others. When we have a sincere desire to life the burdens of others or to bring joy into someone’s life, we have a sincere compassion for them. When we care for and about our fellow man, we are being compassionate. Having that inner desire to help and care for others leads us to performing acts of compassion and service. Compassionate acts aren’t always big grandiose gestures. Sometimes having the sincere desire to lift someone’s spirit and doing something simple to make them smile when they are down is all that is needed to show compassion. If someone is unhappy or going through a hard time, sometimes just listening or making them dinner or baking cookies or inviting them to watch a movie with your family is what they need to give them an extra boost. Having the attitude and sincere desire to uplift someone else will lead us to find compassionate acts to help those around us.
I’ve been researching ‘how to be compassionate’ and have found tons of web pages that talk about rituals of compassion and go into all these complexities of how to be compassionate. It’s really great that there are so many places to go to learn how to be more compassionate people. Personally, I like things to be simple and concise. Here are some thoughts I have on how we can learn to be more compassionate:
- Daily reminder – some people need a visual reminder on their mirror or somewhere they look often. There was a lady I worked with years ago that when she was having a bad day or was cranky, she would put a sticky note next to her monitor so that when she looked at a patient, she’d see the note and remember to smile and be polite. I used to have personal goals on the wall of my cubicle so I’d remember to live up to the expectations I had of myself.
- Help people – it’s as simple as this. When you see someone in need, help. If someone is having trouble carrying something, ask if they would like assistance. If someone is carrying something and trying to open a door, open it for them. If someone has a flat tire, pull over and offer to assist or call for assistance. If someone is injured, do something.
- Try to understand people – sometimes when people are being cranky or not very kind it is because they are having a rough time and it’s not personal. Before taking offense at the way someone acts, stop and think about why they might be acting that way and forgive them. If the action persists, talk to them and ask them to help you understand why they are acting like that towards you. If something you did offended them, just apologize. Sometimes that is all people want.
- Do acts of service – go out of your way to find people in need. There are plenty of service opportunities around. People always need help, causes can always use volunteers. Spare an hour or two at a food bank, watch a baby for a new mom so she can take a nap or a long shower, do yard work for an elderly neighbor, spend time helping in a classroom, volunteer at a life center to help the homeless or disabled learn life skills, organize a food drive for a homeless shelter or a women’s shelter, get a group together and put together school kits for needy schools or children in orphanages overseas, write letters to military members overseas, go through your closet and donate clothes to a needy family or a shelter, volunteer at a hospital, visit people in the hospital or nursing home, send a care kit to military units. There are thousands of ways to give service. If you have a particular interest in a way to serve, just google it and you will find a way.
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