Compassion

A quote from Henri Nouwen:

“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.”

This resonates deep within me on so many levels. A call to be the hands and feet of Jesus, pouring out love. Where are we being invited to lovingly walk beside another, showing compassion? A family member, a friend, a stranger? Yourself? Yes, sometimes we need to befriend ourselves and lovingly hold that which is wounded within us.

So go ahead and give the person who needs a hug, a gentle hand of comfort on the shoulder. Whether or not you can do this in person, picture God joining you, tenderly holding this person in God’s deep, everlasting love.