When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."
Luke 7:13
Feelings can be tricky things. Some feelings can be heavenly and inspirational. Others can be quite the opposite and lead us to fight or flight situations. The dichotomy is that we can feel great love for someone and yet be angry with them at the same time. Those can be tough situations. Compassion is the art of feeling what another is experiencing.
We must recognize that all feelings are God-given emotions which can help guide us through life. We are meant to feel. In fact, feelings are so strong that while we may forget the exact words a person has said, we are more likely to remember how they made us feel. Compassion is the tool that God has given to us to connect with others. Compassion allows us to experience what others are going through even if we have never been in the exact situation or circumstance they face.
This experiencing of the plight of others is meant to be a bridge that helps us cross over from those things that would naturally separate us. There are walls between people. Sometimes there can be walls between people that are supposed to be very close. We tend to build walls to create boundaries for our protection. Compassion is wall smasher. Compassion brings people of unknown origins together in a common cause and a common bond. It is the bond of love--an overflowing of the heart that is moved to act on behalf of another.
This is what Jesus did. He let Himself feel the plight of this widow. There was an immediate connection and it caused Him to cross boundaries and lines that were socially unacceptable. He went right into a funeral procession and stopped it. That doesn't happen. You don't do that. It's bad etiquette. But when a heart is overflowing with compassion, rules get broken and overlooked because there is a bond that is instantly created between people.
As we experience this life, let us pray that God will move in our hearts through His spirit so that we may be those people whose hearts are full of compassion. Then, we too, will cross boundaries and tear down walls of separation while we make connections. The compassion we carry will be looked upon as the art of love and be the known as the bond of perfection.
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