A quote from Compassion: A Reflection of the Christian Life by Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison.
“The word compassion is derived from the Latin words pati and cum, which together mean “to suffer with.” Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into 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. When we look at compassion in this way, it becomes clear that something more is involved than a general kindness or tenderheartedness. It is not surprising that compassion, understood as suffering with, evokes in us a deep resistance and even protest. It is important for us to acknowledge that suffering is not something we desire or to which we are attracted. On the contrary, it is something we want to avoid at all cost. Therefore, compassion is not among our most natural responses.”
Why compassion, then, if it is so hard and unnatural? Because in the upside-down Kingdom economy, it's in compassionate living that we will find the adventure we're longing for as we walk with Jesus in a way that will restore not only the world but our own lives as well. Join us as Orchard Hill focuses in on compassion and begins three weeks of "Challenges for the Heart" starting November 1.
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