Compassion

When someone is hurting, really hurting, it is easy to be merciful.  The observation rolls off my tongue and even as the words form I know there is a caveat.  My mercy wavers if the individual(s) involved “deserve” their situation.  My sympathy stumbles if this is karma playing out in his or her life.  My willingness to extend a hand slows if I think I have been wronged in the past or appropriate justice is being served.  Compassion has limits, right?
 
I work in a building connected to an interlaced set of floors that extends in all directions.  The shopping opportunities are almost endless!  Electronics, food, clothing, watches, and much that I never imagined looking for are found in abundance.  On the third floor connected to Tower 2 there is a section totally dedicated to items for children.  Given Whitney and Carli’s ages, I do not often find myself wandering down through this section.  Yet as I walked the corridor, I found myself reliving the wonder and joy of young children. 
 
In the middle of a blissful reflection, the scene began to play out in front of my eyes.  A child was totally out of control.  The temper tantrum was on the verge of being as bad as anything I could imagine.  It was well beyond anything I have every witnessed!  The response of the two parent involved was and is beyond explanation.  It was as if God was speaking through their actions; “when I looked again and saw what he was doing, I decided to heal him, lead him, and comfort him, creating a new language of praise for the mourners.”  (Isaiah 57.18)
 
In this case and often in my own life, I have earned the reality of the pain and anguish I experience.  My weaknesses haunt me.  My choices come back to reap their rewards.  The god within takes a terrible toll.  Yet God’s response is always the same – restoration and recreation with compassion.  As bad as things can be, you and I are God’s kids.  It is a wonderful state of being.