Compassion 101: Tuesday's Post

Some days, some weeks, knock you to your knees.

Sometimes I fall to my knees because I am stunned by personal news. Or by political or world revelations. 

Sometimes I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Sometimes my body needs to catch up with my thoughts. 

Falling to my knees and then getting back up isn't easy for this body of mine these days. My hips protest, along with my knees, but the heart overrules. "Get on your knees," I hear. 

Sometimes I drop to my knees before I even know what I am doing, but sometimes I imagine myself, head bowed, my hands folded in prayer, kneeling at the side of my bed or the chair where I meditate each morning. You know those feelings, too, I am sure; the ones that take your breath away. 

I recently decided I need a crash course in compassion. I have no problem feeling compassion when a friend calls with news of a scary health event in her family, and it is easy to move into supportive action, but compassion is not my first response at other times. I do not have compassionate thoughts towards those who refuse to understand the danger our country is in under the current leadership. 

I try to open to the words of Desmond Tutu in the book he wrote with his daughter Mpho Tutu, Made for Goodness And Why This Makes All the Difference, 
                   As human beings we may tarnish the sheen
                   or rend the fabric of our own goodness. We 
                   can act in cruel and heartless ways. But because
                   we are human, we cannot completely rip out
                   and destroy every vestige of the godliness by
                   which and for which we were made. We cannot
                   alter our essence. We are made by God, who is
                   goodness itself. We are made like God. We are
                   made for goodness.  p. 15

I confess at times I don't see or feel much goodness. And then I feel even less compassion. 

                  But we do not always act out of love. Sometimes
                  we act out our jealousy, our insecurity, our pride,
                  and our resentment. Sometimes we act out our
                  hate. No, we do not love perfectly. But God does.
                  And the more we come to emulate the divine love,
                  the more our lives are an expression of the goodness
                  that is at the heart of each of us. p. 25.

                  We can always aspire to be more compassionate
                  and more generous, not out of some dogged need
                  to be good or to be lovable, but because to give 
                  love is our greatest joy. p. 33. 

Another companion on my self-proclaimed Compassion 101 course is Joyce Rupp's book Boundless Compassion, Creating a Way of Life. She says compassion consists of "awareness, attitude and action," and requires four spiritual qualities in order to grow: nonjudgment, nonviolence, forgiveness, and mindfulness. See why I need this crash course!

I seem to be having these metaphorical and/or literal "fall to my knees" moments more often these days. When I do, I place my hands on my forehead and say, "May I be a source and reflection of kindness." Then I place my hands on my heart and say, "May I cultivate inner peace and move forward with calm reflection and wise action."

After I pick myself up, I seem more able to remember that God is always present.

                       I am here.
                       I am as close as prayer.
                       I am breathing in your breath.
                                        Made for Goodness, pp. 16-17

An Invitation
When is compassion a challenging concept for you? I would love to know. 

Other resources from my library for Compassion 101:
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong
Boundless Heart, The Buddha's Path of Kindness, Compassion, joy and Equanimity by Christina Feldman
Compassion, Listening to the Cries of the World by Christina Feldman
Hallelujah Anyway, Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott