Compassion

Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Dawson Men's Retreat. It's a great time to enjoy some fellowship, have some fun, eat some good food, and hear some ideas about how to be better men/brothers/friends/husbands/fathers. The guest speaker at this year's event was Tom Davis. Tom is the President of Children's Hopechest, a mission organization bringing God's hope and love to orphans around the world. Many men's programs focus on getting back to the wild and rugged nature that men have lost in today's modern society. Tom had quite a different message for us (although in the end, it turned out to be the same).

Sympathy - A feeling or an expression of pity or sorrow for the distress of another

Empathy - Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives

Compassion - Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it

Tom's main goal for the weekend was to demonstrate the need for compassion in our world, to show us exactly how and why we are called to be compassionate, and to show us some outlets for that discovered (or re-discovered) compassion. He reminded us of James 1:27:

• "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
  

Through pictures, video clips, and personal accounts, Tom described the desperate state of the orphans he sees in Africa and Russia. Hunger, HIV, abuse, and prostitution are the overwhelming forces in lives of these children. Some of the stories and images were disturbing; many were depressing; all were moving in some way. Did Tom show us these things to make us sad? Or to make us feel guilty? Maybe. But mostly I think he wanted to jar us out of our complacency and inaction.

Compassion is a fire that burns only when fueled by love and action. Love for orphans unaccompanied by action is mere sympathy. Action in the name of widows without love is a fleeting gesture. But combined...combined they are powerful enough to chase away the darkness of this life. My fire was stoked several years ago by my good friend, Chad Stubbs. He invited me and others in our church to join him on a mission trip to Honduras to serve with FCM: Forgotten Children Ministries. It was an eye-opening experience: my first time on a foreign mission and my first time in a Third World country. By helping rescue kids off the streets of Honduras from a life of drugs and violence, I finally understood what people were talking about. I understood the importance of loving and giving and serving. Love and action. Love AND action.

Tom instilled and renewed in us a sense of purpose. Several of us at the retreat have been to Honduras to serve with FCM; several others have been to the Ukraine to serve in an orphanage there. Tom presented us with a challenge: to live out Matthew 25:34-36:

• "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "

So we have the responsibility, as those who have been given much, to give back to those in need. I fight this battle daily. My heart does not bleed easily. It must be continually pricked so that I am reminded of the task before me. Look around: who are the hungry and thirsty in your world? Who are the homeless? Who the needy? The sick? Imprisoned?

Love

and

Action.