Compassion as a way of life.

Joke:  A man was alone in his house, enjoying the quiet peaceful time when his doorbell rang and a fund raiser from a nearby charity was seeking donations.  The man responded by saying “I have and elderly mother who is on public aid, I have a sister dying of a horrible disease, I have a brother who’s just gone bankrupt, I have a daughter who is getting married in 5 months and she is planning a $20,000 wedding.  I have a son in college who is borrowing money for his education.  Listen, I don’t give to any of them why would think I should give to you?  So much for compassion.

Someone said what you care about, who you care about and how you care says a lot about you.  It is not enough to wait for a feeling that moves us to action.  As Christians we are being taught not have an emotional experience that causes us to be compassionate, but rather to be growing in our Christian understanding and practice that compassion is becoming a way of life.  Our goal is to learn how to give, respond and act in a smart, responsible and faithful way to the needs, hurts and pains of the world. 

It is a simple thing if we just follow the scriptural mandate in Galatians 6:9, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.