Compassion

Compassion is a key aspect of spirituality. It is a core foundation of the Bible. It is a primary characteristic of God. It is a characteristic that is required of us. “Compassion: A feeling of deep sympathy or sorrow for another who is stricken with misfortune, accompanied by the strong desire to alleviate the suffering”

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Bhuvanesh’s teacher notice her absence from school and took the responsibility to search for her. She was devastated by what she found. She was sickened. She was so moved that she took Bhuvanesh under her care. She approached CMCT for help and rescued this poor girl.

Bhuvanesh was taken away from her alcoholic father to live with her mother. Her mother then married another man illegally. Both of them started drinking. Both became alcoholics. At the age of 11, they prevented Bhuvanesh from attending school. Instead, they forced her to work as a child maid servant to support them all financially.

As the alcohol abuse worsened, this man started to physically abuse Bhuvanesh. He was beat her and sexually abused her. Her mother didn’t care. Bhuvanesh worked hard during the day and returned home in fear of what her new dad might do to her each day. She was terrified and traumatised daily. She was hurt physically. She was destroyed emotionally. At just 11, Bhuvanesh had experienced more horror than most would see in a lifetime.

It was in this stage that Bhuvanesh’s school teacher found her and rescued her. She was 12 at the time. Bhuvanesh was brought to CMCT where she was taken in to live in the hostel. At first, Bhuvanesh was very quiet. She was very nervous and insecure. She wouldn’t make any friends and she didn’t trust anybody.

Bhuvanesh was nurtured in the hostel. She was counselled and comforted. She was sponsored, clothed, fed, loved and sent to school. Slowly over time, changes were noticed. Bhuvanesh started to put on some weight. She was growing well and looking so healthy. She started to make friends and became happy.

Now, Bhuvanesh is doing so well at school, she has won sports medals and loves to play chess. She has accepted Jesus as her personal saviour and loves to read the bible. Bhuvanesh is now a happy and confident 14-year-old girl. She still struggles at times with bad memories but she is so thankful to God for bringing her to CMCT. She loves to spend time with the little children in the hostel. She loves to care for them because she remembers what a blessing that love and support has been in her life.
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Over the past few weeks I’ve been interviewing person after person. I have heard story after story. Each story unique. Each story a reality affecting a human being loved by God. Each one equally as devastating as poor Bhuvanesh. As time has gone on I have started to fear. I have started to probe at my own heart to check that it is still soft. I have become so fearful that it will be toughened by repetition of such stories. By the weight of their problems and the pain of their emotion.

I am overwhelmed by the number of women here that live in fear of their husbands. Alcoholism is a massive problem here and leads to so many problems. Drinking runs a family further and further into the depths of poverty. It consumes the money and time of the drinker, leaving the children to be cared for by a single parent (sometimes by no parent). It also leads to anger, aggression and abuse. The number of women I have spoken to that fear a beating every night is shocking. It’s sickening. The number of children I have spoken to who live in fear of their daddy, who cry as they watch their mum’s being beaten, who scream as their daddy approaches them in rage.

I hear these stories over and over and they become familiar. I hate that they become familiar. I don’t want any of these stories to be lessened. I don’t want the impact of their devastation to be overlooked. I don’t want their pain and suffering to be brushed off or lumped in with a bunch of others. I want my heart to remain soft. I want to hear each individual and love each individual. I want the reality of their situation to resonate deeply in me to produce compassion. I never want to lose that. 

In the bible we see Jesus have compassion. Over and over again, Jesus sees the people and he has compassion.

 

“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matt 14:14)

“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and  he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34)

 

His compassion meant feeling for them but that wasn’t all. He felt their pain deeply but he moved to alleviate their pain as well. True compassion requires action. True compassion requires a soft heart and a strong will.

It is easy to speak of the importance of compassion, but to show true compassion is a difficult challenge. When faced with problem after problem, when faced with the sadness and devastation and grief of others repetitively, it is a challenge to maintain a soft heart. It becomes a heavy task for us and difficult to hear these things. It becomes painful to hear so we numb ourselves. We listen on the outside but we close off our hearts for self-protection. 

Sometimes we don’t notice we do it. Sometime we choose to do it. Think of that friend you have. The one with the depression or the one with ongoing family difficulty or the one that constantly has relationship problems. Do you tire of hearing them speak? Do you genuinely hear them and FEEL for them? Or, over time, have you become numb to their voice. Have you closed your heart to their pain and struggling because it has become monotonous to you, or too difficult or too heavy or has your friend become too ‘needy’. Have you become a fake friend? Jesus looked on them and had compassion.

Even when we succeed at that softness of heart, even when we LISTEN to them and FEEL their pain, do we have the strength to act? To we have the strength of will and the genuinity within us to move. Do we put ourselves aside and alleviate the issue. Or do we just sit there and FEEL. Do we feel good about ourselves because we listened for a few minutes and felt bad for the person? Or are we so moved with compassion that we reach out. Do we actively love that person or do we just say we love them and then sigh relief when the task of speaking is over? Jesus looked on them, he was moved with compassion and then he acted appropriately to alleviate.

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor 1:3-4)

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and,  if one has a complaint against another,  forgiving each other;  as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Col 3:12-13)

 

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love,  a tender heart, and  a humble mind.” (1 Peter 3:8)

Compassion is a key aspect of spirituality. It is a core foundation of the Bible. It is a primary characteristic of God. It is a characteristic that is required of us. “Compassion: A feeling of deep sympathy or sorrow for another who is stricken with misfortune, accompanied by the strong desire to alleviate the suffering”