August 2026 Newsletter
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In recent months I find myself often returning to the word compassion. In his ministry we are told that Jesus was often moved with compassion. This led him to speak about God, to heal and to minister to the very present needs of those who he encountered in this world. If we literally translate the word compassion we get: “to suffer together.”
Compassion is a unique and profound emotional response. Compassion bridges the gap between feeling sympathy on one hand and taking tangible action to help on the other. Compassion recognises the suffering of others and is combined with an active desire to address it. This makes compassion important for us to consider in our spiritual and faith journey.
I have been growing in my understanding that the compassion of Jesus, as evidenced in the Scriptures, is a model for us as those who seek to follow him in walking the way of love in our world today. Jesus saw people. He saw who they were. He saw their needs and he was deeply moved into action. In the original Greek the word we translate as compassion means ‘moved in your guts.' Like a churning in your stomach! I wonder if we have this sort of reaction when we recognise the injustices in this world and when we witness the needs of those around us. Surely this is part of loving our neighbours as Christ has commanded us. Spirituality and faith are not meant to be self-absorption, like a cocoon that just contains “God and me.” For it to have meaning, for it to grow and not wither, it must be a wellspring of compassionate living. It must notice the needs of those around us and then it must reach out to others in grace and love, as we believe that God has reached out to all of us. And so out of our faith conviction we respond with compassion when we see other humans in need. May this be the mark of compassion in our lives.
Grace & peace, Rev Phil