Where Compassion Leads

Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. -- Frederick Buechner


A culture of compassion is missing in America. There is a pervasive I am right, you are wrong, go to hell attitude. Hate has replaced trying to understand a different viewpoint. Whatever you are for, I am against. Forget trying to see another person's point of view. Empathy is only for those who I agree with. Then if I find out that they are a conservative/liberal, forget them.

The message of tolerance has replaced compassion. With tolerance, a person must deconstruct what they say or feel in order to communicate without prejudice. The modern day definition requires a person to lay aside their values for the greater good. In comparison, compassion is not an intellectual exercise to make sure you do not come across inappropriately. Compassion reflects a person's heart. One definition of compassion is the deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.

One of the great stories of compassion is what is commonly referred to as "The Good Samaritan." Modern day deconstructionist might say that the Samaritan had the gift of tolerance. Think of the medical definition of tolerance -- "his system can tolerate the disease because he has a healthy immune system." Where does tolerance lead a person, compared to where compassion leads?

.....more to come