To Choose to Act

Compassion is more than a feeling. It’s a call to action. Compassion begins with a sense of another’s plight and only ends when we respond. Webster’s Dictionary supports this view and defines compassion as a “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it,” and also “pity coupled with an urgent desire to aid or to spare.”

Com-passion – with passion – this is not a passing emotion. In terms familiar to Friends, compassion directs one toward a leading. It directs us toward a purpose or action that draws us in and holds us in its sway. It causes us to ask ourselves what this person, this need, this choice we sense, is asking of us. What choice will we make?

The story of the Good Samaritan was told as a riddle in response to a riddle. The first riddle was told as a ruse by a lawyer, used to catch Jesus in a fault. The lawyer cross-examined with the question, “And who is my neighbor?” The answer came back as another riddle – one of Christ’s most clever ways of teaching.

In the familiar story, a traveler was beaten and left by the side of the road. Two men, a priest and a Levite, saw the broken man and passed him by, keeping their distance on the opposite side of the road. Then a third man, a foreigner, an outsider, a Samaritan, saw the injured man. “And when he saw the man, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’”

All three men saw the beaten man, but only one acted to help him. The Samaritan was filled with compassion that day. Perhaps he was filled with compassion every day. Compassion involves choice – sometimes a difficult one. The Samaritan chose to act. He went, he bandaged, he poured, he brought, he paid, he promised. Again and again, he chose to act.

Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which one of these three do you think was the neighbor?” The lawyer’s answer was not, “The one who noticed him.” “The one who thought about helping him.” “The one who stopped and looked at him.” No. It was, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus’ response? “Go and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:29-37)

Acts of compassion may not involve denarii and donkeys for us. Instead, they may mean soup kitchens, quilting groups, thank you notes, protest marches, peace and justice legislation, hospice care, prayer and meditation. Compassion means leaving space for leadings to come and willingness to act on them. ~~~

Ruthie Tippin serves on the Board of Trustees for Right Sharing of World Resources and attends Bridge City Friends Meeting in Portland, OR (NPYM). She and her husband Jon live in Kalama, WA.