Pieces of the Puzzle

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. ~1 Cor. 1:3-4 (CEB)

“If there is one notion that is central to all great religions it is that of ‘compassion.’ The sacred scriptures of the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and Christians all speak about God as the God of compassion. In a world in which competition continues to be the dominant mode of relating among people, be it in politics, sports, or economics, all true believers proclaim compassion, not competition, as God’s way . . .

Compassion, to be with others when and where they suffer and to willingly enter into a fellowship of the weak, is God’s way to justice and peace among people. Is this possible? Yes, it is, but only when we dare to live with the radical faith that we do not have to compete for love, but that love is freely given to us by the One who calls us to compassion.” ~From Here and Now by Henri J. M. Nouwen,

Almighty God, form whom every good prayer comes, and Who pours out on all who desire it, the spirit of grace and supplication: Deliver us, when we draw close to You, from coldness of heart and wandering of mind, that, with steadfast thought and kindled affections, we may worship You in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God. ~Ephesians 5:1-2 (CEB)

“Compassionate people often inspire others to be compassionate. I feel this way whenever I meditate on the life of Jesus. I marvel at how Jesus was so consistently compassionate when he met the ill, the grieving, the hungry, the oppressed. He is often described as being ‘deeply moved in spirit’ or feeling compassion for people. Jesus touched torn and tattered people with an amazing awareness of their woundedness. The vastness of his ability to love and be loved is phenomenal.

I’ve also been inspired by compassionate people in history such as Dorothy Day, Mahatma Ghandi, Etty Hillesum, Tom Dooley, Mother Teresa, and Albert Schweitzer. I was in awe as I read about the English spiritual writer, Caryll Houselander. Psychologists would bring their mentally and emotionally ill patients whom they could not sure to live with Caryll because they were astounded at the affect her compassionate presence had on them. Caryll accepted and loved the patients and this made a dramatic healing impact on their health.

When I look at the lives of compassionate people I see some common characteristics. They often have significant suffering or painful life events of their own, a generous hear, a non-blaming and non-judging mind, a keen empathy, and a love that embraces the oneness of all creation.

I invite you to think about your teachers of compassion today. Who has taught you how to offer the cup of compassion to others?” ~From The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp

Help me today O Lord, to show Your love to those I meet this day. Help me to see people as You see them, beloved and precious. Help me to look past present circumstances to who You know they are. Give me the ability to love with grace and mercy as Jesus did. Amen.

“Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left.

“Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me. ‘

“Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? ‘

“Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who will receive terrible things. Go into the unending fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?’ Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’  And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.” ~Matt. 25:31-46 (CEB)

“I always explain to the sister, ‘It is Christ you tend in the poor. It is his wounds you bathe, his sores you clean, his limbs you bandage. See beyond appearances, hear the words Jesus pronounced long ago. They are still operative today: What you do to the least of mine, you do it to me. When you serve the poor, you serve our Lord Jesus Christ.’” ~From My Life for the Poor by Mother Teresa

Heavenly Father, Help me to be Your hands and feet in the world. Let those I meet this day see You through me. Amen.

Go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice. I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners. ~Matt 9:13

“Following the way of forgiveness prepares us to go one step further. Something more is asked of us by Jesus: ‘Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I didn’t come to call the righteous, but the sinner.’

This ‘something more’ is compassion. Once we grasp the depth of God’s merciful love for us, he wants us to express that same compassion for others. This is the balm that softens the scars of sinfulness and suffering. As we show mercy to others, so they will extend the blessing to us in turn.

Ask yourself some revealing questions: Do I sense the presence of the suffering Christ in others? Do I share their pain? Am I aware of their vulnerability? Do I know that the need for mercy is often hidden under a mask of self-sufficiency, coldness, and indifference?” ~From Divine Guidance by Susan Muto and Adrian Van Kamm

Heavenly Father, help me to understand Your ways of mercy. Help me to sense the presence of the suffering Christ in others. Help me to share their pain. Let me see past the masks of self-sufficiency, coldness and indifference to the vulnerability inside. Amen.

Jesus replied, ” You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? The days will come when the groom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.”

Then he told them a parable. “No one tears a patch from a new garment to patch an old garment. Otherwise, the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t match the old garment. Nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the new wine would burst the wineskins, the wine would spill, and the wineskins would be ruined. Instead, new wine must be put into new wineskins.  No one who drinks a well- aged wine wants new wine, but says, ‘The well- aged wine is better. ‘” ~Luke 5:33-39 (CEB)

“To go where healing love is needed, and give it in a way in which it can be received, often means acting in the teeth of our own interests and preferences, even religious interests and preferences. Christ risked his reputation for holiness by healing on the Sabbath; he touched the unclean and dined with the wrong people; he accepted the love and companionship of a sinner (that most wonderful of all remedies for the wounds of sin). He loved with God’s love and so went straight to the point: What can I do to restore my fellow creature and how?” ~From The Light of Christ by Evelyn Underhill

Help me this day O Lord to see with Your eyes and to hear with Your ears so that I may love Your children as You would love them. Let me not be afraid this day to reach out to the sick and hurting. May I not be so busy with my own interests and opinions for others to see You in me. Amen.

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?”

He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.”

After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”

He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate until they were full. They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. About five thousand had eaten. ~Mark 6:30-44 (CEB)

“Jesus was often prompted by compassion to act on behalf of those who were suffering loss, disease, and hunger. It seems inevitable that those who follow Jesus must also show compassion in all of their decisions and actions. This is especially true of those who relate to people suffering hunger, disease, and death. The followers of Jesus cannot ignore the needy of the world, and neither can we look away from the needs of the world. If our lives are modeled after the one we claim to follow, we will, as Jesus did, look with compassion upon all who cross our paths. Looking with compassion requires the further step of seeking to alleviate the pain that prompted our compassion.

Colossians 3:12 has provided a source of guidance and strength for my life for many years. ‘As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.’ The author of Colossians calls the followers of Jesus to clothe themselves with these five incredible qualities, and the first of them is compassion. As chosen ones, it is the only option. To be chosen as God’s beloved can only evoke gratitude and goodness. Therefore our response of compassion for the world is really a response to God’s unqualified love for us. How could we respond in any other way?

Jesus saw a need, had compassion, then sought to remedy the need. As Christians we seek to model our lives after Jesus. The pain of the world draws forth our compassion and our effort to remedy the need.

As God’s beloved, pray this week for you to see the needs around you and for compassion that will prompt actions to meet those needs with loving remedy. ~From A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God, Rueben P. Job

Heavenly Father, help me this day to clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. May all I do this day be a reflection of you. Amen.

A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent her entire livelihood on doctors, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the hem of his clothes, and at once her bleeding stopped.

“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When everyone denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing in on you!”

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.”

When the woman saw that she couldn’t escape notice, she came trembling and fell before Jesus. In front of everyone, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.

“Daughter, your faith has healed you,” Jesus said. “Go in peace.” ~Luke 8:42-48 (CEB)

“When Jesus encountered the hemorrhaging woman, he set aside the Levitical cleanliness laws that had kept this suffering woman separated from the larger community for twelve long year (Matt 9:20-22; March 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48). Her touch did not offend him nor was he concerned it had made him unclean. Instead he called attention to the fact that she had touched him and that her faith- not his- had made her well. Choosing love and healing to meet human need, Jesus restored the woman’s rightful place into the fellowship of the Israelites by calling her ‘Daughter,’ perhaps recalling the honored memory of another ‘daughter’ of Israel, Bathsheba.” ~From Mother Roots by Helen Bruch Pearson

Lord, You know the things that separate me from Your love. You know the things that separate me from others. Heal my heart O Lord, so that I may feel Your love through Your people. May I dare to reach out and touch the hem of Your robe. May I dare to ask for healing this day. Amen.

I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. ~Jer. 29:11 (CEB)

“Dear Jesus, during this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head- where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of ‘to do.’” Amen. ~From Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson

Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives? ~Matt 16:26 (CEB)

“What I most desire for you is a certain calmness which recollection, detachment, and love of God alone can give. St. Augustine says that whatever we love outside God, so much the less do we love [God]. It is as a brook whence part of the waters is turned aside. Such a diversion takes away from that which is God’s and thence arise harassment and trouble. God would have all, and [God’s] jealousy cannot endure a divided heart. The slightest affection apart from [God] becomes a hindrance, and causes estrangement. The soul can only look to find peace in love without reserve. ~ From The Royal Way of the Cross: Letters and Spiritual Counsels of Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon

Heavenly Father, I am nothing without You. My heart races, I feel lost and alone without You. Help me to not have a divided heart so that I may find the peace and love I need for this day. Amen.

Train yourself for a holy life! While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come. ~1 Tim 4:7b-8 (CEB)

“By participating in Christian disciplines, we live out our desire and intention to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. As we do so, we are encouraged, instructed, healed, challenged, loved, renewed, and beckoned to God and godly living.

While it is true that God is in every when and where and that many other things besides disciplines contribute to our deepening relationship with God, we discover that it makes a meaningful difference in everyday life when we set aside time, space, and ourselves to be more fully present with and attentive and responsive to God. Disciplines are like faithful companions on the way. The benefit we seek and desire most is deepening companionship with God. We come away from other pursuits to listen for the still, small voice that is our beloved Savior, the Holy One, our Creator, God.” ~From Holy Invitations by Jeanette A. Bakke

Lord, how magnificent are Your ways. The more time I spend with You the more I desire to know You deeper. Guide this time with You, O Lord, so the relationship will grow even stronger. Help me to continue to hear Your still small voice as I journey through this day. Amen.