You can’t be compassionate if you have no awareness of those around you, however. Have you ever had a really terrible day, and finally get a chance to sit down and be morose in the corner of a room, and then someone comes singing and dancing into the room, all bubbly from their excellent day? Isn’t that annoying? Have you ever been the bubbly person? Then, when you notice the sad person in the corner, you either feel bad for not noticing them earlier, or else feel annoyed at them for depressing your happiness!
When I’m not playing the piano, I often sing in the choir. Once I had to walk into the choir loft during the prelude, when a brass ensemble was playing a special piece. There was not much room on the platform, and I had to walk directly behind the trombonist while he was playing. Well, if you’ve noticed, trombones take up a lot of room, and this piece they were playing was quite vigorous. I paused as I reached the stage, noticing that if I walked past just when he pulled back his slide, I was going to be impaled by his instrument. He’d probably knock me over, play some horrendous note, and I’d mess everything up.
Fortunately, this piece they were playing had a regular rhythm. After a moment, I caught the feel of it and timed my walk so I scooted past at just the right moment. I had to, first, be aware of the issue, and second, feel the beat with the trombonist.
Compassion isn’t always about the feelings in your heart. It’s not about the feelings in somebody else’s heart. It is more about your awareness of others and your actions in response to them. Many descriptions of Jesus’ ministry on earth describe how he felt such compassion for the multitudes. But His feelings of compassion always turned into action: feeding them, healing them, teaching them. Let us also show compassion with action.
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
Matthew 14:14-16