Compassion literally means passion with...
Illustration
Object:
"Compassion" literally means "passion with." The word "passion" means something very
different from what it used to. To most minds, the word conjures up an image of Rhett
Butler sweeping Scarlett O'Hara off her feet with Atlanta burning in the background.
Passion, to most people today, is an overwhelming force of emotion. Back in the old
days, it meant simply "suffering." In the church, we preserve a remnant of that meaning
when we speak of "passion week" -- the week of Jesus' suffering. To have compassion for
others is to share their suffering.
One December, a group of parents stood in the lobby of a nursery school waiting to claim their children. It was the last class session before Christmas. As the boys and girls ran from their rooms, each one clutched a brightly wrapped package. It was the project they had been working on for days, a Christmas present for their parents. One little boy slipped and fell. The surprise flew out of his hands and hit the concrete floor. There was the terrible sound of shattering ceramic.
The room suddenly fell silent, and then the boy let out a wail of grief, which turned into a flood of tears. His father knelt down beside him and said, "There, there, it really doesn't matter."
The boy's mother, who was wiser in such things, also knelt down. She put her arms around her son and said, "Oh, but it does matter. It matters a great deal." And tears came to her eyes, too.
One December, a group of parents stood in the lobby of a nursery school waiting to claim their children. It was the last class session before Christmas. As the boys and girls ran from their rooms, each one clutched a brightly wrapped package. It was the project they had been working on for days, a Christmas present for their parents. One little boy slipped and fell. The surprise flew out of his hands and hit the concrete floor. There was the terrible sound of shattering ceramic.
The room suddenly fell silent, and then the boy let out a wail of grief, which turned into a flood of tears. His father knelt down beside him and said, "There, there, it really doesn't matter."
The boy's mother, who was wiser in such things, also knelt down. She put her arms around her son and said, "Oh, but it does matter. It matters a great deal." And tears came to her eyes, too.
