Ordinary Time

Pause

“Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it's like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.”

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, 1973

We serve a God who knows what it’s like to walk in our shoes. We follow Christ, who looks at us with compassion and says, “Go in peace.” And, we find joy in the embrace of God’s Spirit.

Will you accept God’s compassion for you? Will you share such compassion with those around you?

Pause. Breathe. Soak it in. God’s compassion is yours. Today and every day.

Listen

Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

Mark 5:21-24a

Think

Compassion is so difficult for us to express, because it requires action. To show compassion to a fellow person means to put yourself in their shoes — to feel their pain and sorrow as deeply as they do and care for them.

Compassion is so difficult for us to express, because it calls us to put down our plan for the day, step out of our busy-ness, and meet someone else’s needs.

When Jesus meets a man who is at a loss for hope, he doesn’t look back at the crowd surrounding him. He doesn’t ask the man if his pain can wait. He simply goes with Jairus to care for his daughter.

Who needs you today? Are you willing to stop everything to meet someone else where they are? Will you go as Jesus went to care for another?

Christ calls us to the difficult work of compassion. Will you follow?

Emily Holladay

Pray

Holy God, help me to open my eyes that I may see my neighbor’s needs and respond with Christ-like compassion. Amen.

Go

What would happen if you believed God’s compassion is deep enough and wide enough for you? Would you accept it? Would you share it?

Go today, confident in this: The God who made you came to Earth to walk in your shoes, that you might know the overwhelming peace and joy made just for you.

What are you waiting for? Go! Share this wonderful news!