Week V - Day 1 - Learning Compassion

Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

The Cup of Compassion...recognizing my interconnectedness with all of the world.You Are the Face of God


As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes." ~ Luke 19:41-42

What can we do? We can become a sign. Whatever happens, becomes a sign of joy and a fountain of divine love. ~ Bede Griffiths, OSB


Joyce shares that she learned a lot about compassion from a college professor who took a personal interest, not only in Joyce, but all of her students.  

"She would take time to stop a student in class or on campus, ask how he or she was, and then, really listen to the response.  I remember nothing of what she taught me in that class, but I remember everything of how she was with me and with the other students." (Joyce Rupp, The Cup of Life, p 113)

C. Houselander 1901-1954

Joyce continues saying that she has been inspired by compassionate people in history such as Dorothy Day, Mahatma Ghandi, Etty Hillisum, Tom Dooley, Mother Teresa, and Albert Schwietzer.  English spiritual writer, Caryll Houselander was another teacher.  It seems that psychologist would bring their mentally and emotionally ill  patients, they could not treat, to Caryll.  Because of Caryll's acceptance and love, these patients experienced dramatic healing.

Reflecting on all those who have taught her about compassion, Joyce notes that she does see some common characteristics.

"They often have a significant suffering or painful life evnts of their own, a generous heart, a non-blaming and non-judging mind, a passionate spirit, a willingness to sacrifice their life, a keen empathy, and a love that embraces the oneness of all creation."(Rupp, p 114)

Thinking....who....???

THEN, Joyce invites me to to think about my teachers of compassion.  She asks me to name those who have taught me how to offer the cup of compassion.

What a question.  In some ways I think compassion has been hard-wired into me.  It is something that I naturally do. Like I journaled a few days ago, I am a strong INFJ.  Compassion and empathy seem to be a part of being an INFJ. (Two different resources that say very similar things.  Reading these again have been a helpful reminder that many of the things I "assume" others "should" do as Christians....is part of being an INFJ! Note to self, read through these again when you notice stress building in your heart!)


Some believe we are "hard-wired" with one of the 16 Personality Types while others believe the traits that make up any of these 16 types are learned.  I don't know... But if I did learn...

Don Quixote on of my all
time favorite tales!!

I would say my mother, who from the stories I've heard, probably learned compassion from her mother.  I was involved in a car accident at the age of 5 and spent a lot of time in the hospital during the next six years.  I grew up wanting to be a nurse, undoubtedly some of the nurses I came in contact with during those years taught me compassion. The caring and love of a supportive church family during those years of surgery most likely taught me about compassion.  Then...all those books I read as a young girl about "heroic/giving/compassionate" nurses also taught me the necessity to see my interconnectedness with others.  Lastly, as I sit here pondering this question...I cannot remember not having a fascination with Jesus and the many stories of his caring, healing, touching, reaching out, parables.....

Jesus/Jesus/Jesus...I assumed
every child is consumed with
"knowing" Jesus, but maybe not?

So, was I  hard-wired as an INFJ or if I was overly blessed by influential teachers who taught me about compassion? I would guess this is a both/and.  Still, it has been interesting to consider Joyce's question of "WHO" taught me about compassion.

Breathprayer:
Breathing in: Divine Compassion...
Breathing out: ...teach me


Reflection:
Remember compassionate people you have known (personally or from history, scripture, literature, etc)
Review their lives. Notice how they lived.
How did they respond compassionately?
Write down their names on a piece of paper.
Place this paper under your cup as a symbol of how their example is a base for your compassion.
Let it be a way of honoring these compassionate beings.


Scripture: Matthew 10:40-42
⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Journaling:
My experience of compassion...
The key thing that I have learned from compassionate people is...
God of compassion...


Honestly, some of my experiences of compassion have not been great.  However, it was not because of the giving but rather MY NOT KNOWING HOW TO GIVE in a healthy way. I would become consumed...I would take on another's burdens, rather than walking a long side them while THEY dealt with their own burden.

My empty shoes b/c I tried to
walk in someone else's shoes.

Jesus reached out to others, yet he did not lose his sense of who "he" was.  He didn't become "them"...he stayed Jesus and let them continue dealing with their life.  And....praise God....I am learning how to offer compassion without trying to walk in the other's shoes....leaving my own shoes (cup) empty.

I only learned part of the lesson from teachers, OR I did learn some of this behavior from others.  Again, I suspect this is a both/and.

God of compassion, scripture is full of words and lessons of your compassion!

"Therefore I said, "Turn away from me;  let me weep bitterly.  Do not try to console me  over the destruction of my people.""  Isaiah 22:4

"Oh, that my head were a spring of water  and my eyes a fountain of tears!  I would weep day and night  for the slain of my people."  Jeremiah 9:1

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." 1 Peter 3:8

Another favorite story...
The Prodigal Father

"And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." Luke 15:20 

"You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate." Luke 6:36

Yes, scripture is full of these lessons, teach me how to offer compassion from a place of a cup that is always being emptied and refilled  Teach me, Lord, how to be compassionate from a place of health and wholeness!  I know, that "I" am a special child and that you never intend for me to lose myself.  After all, like I journaled before....if I am in someone else's house...my own is empty!

I do want to thank you, God, for all those who have offered compassion to me and for the lessons they gave. I would not be the person I am today, without those special teachers.

Prayer:
God of hurting ones, thank you for the loving people you have brought into my life, who gave me comfort and strength in times of pain. Thank you for teachers of compassion and for what I have learned from them. I long to be a more compassionate person so that my life will truly reflect you. Revive and renew the gift of compassion in my life.


Today:
I will live as a compassionate person.


I would add that for today, I will strive to live as a healthy and whole compassionate person!

Many Blessings ~ Sandi

Week V - The Cup of Compassion

As I begin Week V: The Cup of Compassion.

Compassion?

My prayer would be that I would see the world as God sees this world.  Who better than beginning this morning and this chapter than Michael W. Smith?  Michael has a gift for leading praise and worship.  God uses this man mightily in stirring the hearts of Christ's Church.

The cup at the beginning of this chapter is a cup being emptied out.  Looking for an image, different than the one I have used during Week II, The Open Cup, I was struck by this work of a woman emptying, what appears to be an earthen jar of some kind, into a large body of water.

I, all of us, are part of this earth.  We, like an earthen pot, are formed from clay. As I begin with Compassion, I want to begin with the thought I am simply returning what is not mine, but the Creator's within me. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.

"I hold my heart as a gourd filled with love, ready to pour upon humanity." ~ Jessica Powers

Joyce tells of a time she befriended a woman sitting with her terminally ill husband, Agnes.  Agnes shared with Joyce how another woman, Marian, who had recently lost her own husband in the same facility, had reached out to help her.

"...I saw how one woman, in the midst of her own loss, reached out in compassion to another who was in pain. Marian couldn't 'do' much for Agnes by changing her situation but she helped greatly with her caring presence." (Joyce Rupp, The Cup of Life, p 109)

Mary Jo Meadows defines compassion as "the quivering of the heart in response to another's suffering" and notes that "compassionate beings...cannot bear to see suffering and remain unengaged."  Jack Kornfield writes about the truly loving person who breaths in the pain of the world and breaths out compassion.

"That is how deep compassion is, and how closely connected to others." (Rupp, p 110)

Joyce tells us that each life influences and affects the other in the same way.  She continues by writing,

"The more we see our world as a vast interconnectedness of all beings, the more drawn we will be to compassion because we will see how much one life is related to and affected by another. This  spiritual oneness is at the heart of Christianity." (Ibid)

I am the Vine, you are the branches.

As a Christian and as a person living in the 21st Century, this notion interconnectedness is not new thinking. Those of us raised in the church are familiar with the vine and the branches image from John 15:1. Living in today's world, we are daily reminded how each of us affects and is affected by another part of the world.

"We are the body of Christ. The life pulsing through us is the life of God giving us spiritual vitality." (Ibid)

Joyce thinks that no quality more identifies a Christian than that of compassion.  She also knows that compassion can be very demanding. She also identifies there are many ways of showing compassion.

The Good Samaritan

"Sometimes compassion asks us to simply 'be' with someone, to wait patiently, to experience their powerlessness with them. At other times, compassion asks us to 'do' something, to give of our time and resources, to speak out for justice, to 'go the extra mile' for and with them as did the Samaritan in the gospel parable ( Luke 10:25-37). And sometimes, compassion asks us to receive graciously from another who has need of our receptivity and our vulnerability." (Ibid)

Being the INFJ that I am, there is a part of me that is jumping up and exclaiming loudly, "AMEN, Joyce! Preach it!"

There is another part of me that begins to feel overwhelmed, because I have simply lost myself in others and/or situations.  Joyce must know about people like me, because she goes on to say,

"Caring persons need to constantly check their motivation for offering compassion to be sure they are not doing it out of their own egocentric needs. They must also be sure to take good care of themselves. As Mary Jo Meadows points out 'You must get near enough to the suffering to feel it, but not so close as to get lost in it or overwhelmed by it.' This can be a very delicate balance." (Ibid)

The underlined emphasis...is mine.  Oh, do I recognize my need within those lines.

Joyce closes her introduction using the wisdom of one of my favorite teachers, Marcus Borg who notes that compassion is the central quality of God in both the Hebrew and the Christian scriptures. Borg emphasized that God is compassion ate - God feels our pain, our loss, and our suffering.

Praying with our cup...

Joyce asks, "As we pray with our cups this week, we can draw both inspiration and comfort from God who is our example, par excellence, of how to hold the hurting ones of our world in our hearts and offer them the cup of compassion." (Rupp, p 111)

Again, Joyce's poem to begin this chapter, touches my heart, sparks my imagination, and offers me hope.

my cup of compassion holds tears of the world; it overflows with sorrow, struggles, and sadness,
my cup of compassion holds the cries of children, unfed, unloved, unsheltered, uneducated, unwanted,
my cup of compassion holds the screams of war, the tortured, slain, imprisoned, the raped, the disabled,
my cup of compassion holds the bruised and battered, victims of incest and abuse, gang wars, violent crimes,
my cup of compassion holds the voice of silent ones, the mentally ill, illegal immigrants, the unborn, the homeless, 
my cup of compassion holds the emptiness of the poor, the searing pain of racism, the impotency of injustice, 
my cup of compassion holds the heartache of loss, the sigh of the dying, the sting of the divorced,
my cup of compassion holds the agony of the earth, species terminated, air polluted, land destroyed, rivers with refuse,
my cup of compassion I hold it to my heart where the Divine dwells, where love is stronger than death and disaster.  ~ Joyce Rupp (Rupp, p 112)


God, Father and Creator of us all and all that we see...I am looking forward to learning more about this Cup of Compassion and how to offer compassion in a way that honors and glorifies you.  Today, help me to see this world and all I meet, through your eyes.  Help me to listen to the eyes of my heart...my heart where you reside.  AMEN.

Many Blessings ~ Sandi