The following comes from Walt’s book, Lighting Your Way, With Love
Living in Minnesota, I have learned that ice is a formidable foe. During my first winter in this northern clime, I made the rookie mistake of leaving a case of soda pop in the trunk of my car overnight. In the morning, the back of my vehicle looked like a crime scene. There was sticky, slushy residue everywhere, littered with empty, distorted cans. What a mess!
At times, our environment can be unforgiving and downright harsh. Transitions can be especially tricky. Familiar comforts or people may no longer be available to help us through our challenges. It might feel as though we are suddenly alone and without a clear idea of what we should do next. It is here that our values come into play and can play a guiding role.
Values are the principles by which we live. They guide, inspire, and direct us because they are the things that we hold most dear. We aspire to live in this way because we know that it leads to something more significant. Everyone has a set of values—even scoundrels and villains. Experience, faith, family, and culture all participate, over time, in shaping our values. Wisdom remembers and applies these principles to a variety of situations. Paradoxically, values need to be flexible enough to fit changing circumstances, yet fixed enough to offer clear direction.
Spiritual or faith-based values emerge from the Wisdom of God. Gleaned from the pages of scripture and nurtured within the context of Christian community, spiritual values provide a type of connecting tissue between people of faith. Core Christian values are the ones that appear—or should appear—in the personal value systems of those who follow Christ.
Compassion is one such value. It grows out of God's hesed (remember that God-word from earlier in this chapter?). Psalm 145:8-10 puts it well: "The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your faithful shall bless you."
God has compassion on us. Despite our imperfect tendencies to stray, misbehave, become distracted, and focus inward, God's heart goes out to us. Compassion means, literally, "with passion or love." God's love holds us in orbit and refuses to let us go. Divine compassion fuels God's acts of forgiveness, healing, redemption, and restoration. Jesus's ministry demonstrated as much. More than once, scripture tells us that Jesus had compassion for the hungry, broken-hearted, and suffering people (see Matt. 9:36;14:14; 15:32;20:34; Mk 6:34; 8:2; Lk 7:13; 15:20.) What is more, Jesus's compassion drives his response. He reaches out, acknowledges, cares for, and heals us.
If compassion lies at the heart of God's dealing with us, then it is a value of great worth and something for us to not only treasure but also to emulate. When we put compassion in a central place in our value system, we are taking steps to walk in the wisdom of God.
In a harsh and cold world, where things burst apart without much care, compassion is sorely needed. Compassion opens the heart to the breaks and fissures of those around us that we might too readily pass over in our daily scurry. We see with subversive eyes that dare to view life as it is, beyond the illusions, deceptions, and sugar coating of a culture that lusts after perfection.
It needs mentioning that this isn't easy, and can even be dangerous. Courage is required because when we open our hearts, we become vulnerable to the pain and suffering of others. To do this, we have to cast off the protective coating of our hearts, which leaves them susceptible to being broken and made heavy by the burdens of a hurting world. Once we see, we can't avoid responding. Compassion may start in our heart, but soon it is directing our hands and feet to action. We become a part of God's work of restoration and healing.
Claiming compassion as a core value during a time of transition can have an added benefit: it can be a source of new purpose and direction. Seeing the needs of others with our hearts and then reaching out to them with acts of kindness can open new possibilities. Instead of being alone, we will find ourselves in community with others in a way that we've never been before.
A PRAYER FOR YOU:
Gracious God, the source of all compassion, your love is steadfast and endless. You reach out to a hurting world with healing that passes all understanding. Be present in my heart this day so that I might see through the lens of love. Strengthen my failing courage so that I might be humble and vulnerable enough to connect with those who are struggling and in need. Allow your compassion to embolden my response. Through Jesus Christ, amen.
Today’s reading comes from Walt’s first book, Lighting Your Way, With Love. He wrote it on the occasion of his son leaving for college. It is a devotional book about transitions, faith, and living as a child of God.
© 2019 Walt Lichtenberger. All rights reserved.