A woman was walking along a road when she was attacked by a thief. He took her purse, beat her up, and went away, leaving her injured. A few local cars passed but nobody stopped to investigate the body lying on the path. What the woman needed was the spirit of compassion to help her.
Fortunately, someone drove by who did stop. He was feeling concern for a complete stranger who might have been in dire straights. He went up to her and stopped her bleeding, then he got her into his car, took her to a hospital, and stayed with her in the waiting artea for quite some time until she could be taken into the medical room. All this even though it meant missing a night out with his friends.
The spirit of compassion can be misdirected
Giving people what they want may not be good for them e.g. money they would squander on alcohol or drugs. However, real concern for others often means being prepared to offer something of what they need even if this involves giving up more than the time and money we could easily afford. We definitely need something extra in our hearts when responding to challenges we might not automatically welcome.
The spirit of compassion can be absent
Some of us may find it difficult to go beyond a focus on ‘me’, ‘me’, ‘me’. Hurry and worry for what I want. Grabbing things I desire. Never mind whether I actually need them just now. Outer worldly matters rule one’s life. Success on the sports field, another sexual conquest, possession of a new status symbol.
On the other hand, you may want to face in another direction. One that follows higher values. To be more caring of others and less self-serving. Like the good person in the story. Easier said than done you might say. ‘Surely I can’t become a saint overnight?’ Yes that is correct. It probably takes many years to turn one’s life fundamentally around, so one is looking in the opposite direction. And certainly not by one’s own efforts alone.
The universal source of the spirit of compassion
In my experience, to become a more considerate kinder person, there is a higher power I can draw upon. It is a spiritual force that comes from beyond me but which I can allow, if I choose, to be present within me.
There are alcoholics who have led a changed life whilst engaging in the Twelve Step Programme used by members of Alcoholics Anonymous. If they can do it why not anyone? They did it by living the principles of the Programme which in summary are:
- Admitting that one cannot control one’s alcoholism, addiction, or compulsion;
- Coming to believe in a higher power that can give strength;
- Examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member);
- Making amends for these errors;
- Learning to live a new life with a new code of behaviour;
- Helping others who suffer from the same alcoholism, addictions, or compulsions.
We can all turn around towards what in one’s heart one knows is right. Facing in a new direction and away from the old ways.
Belief in the spirit of compassion is not enough
Some Christian theologians have maintained that we can only be lifted up and saved from our wrongdoing by religious faith rather than any personal effort we do to improve our character. In other words, what they mean is that the right belief alone rather than the way one tries to live one’s life is what really matters for personal improvement. But are they not mistaken? Doesn’t personal responsibility come if we are free to want what we wish?
The non-religious often assume self-realization is only achieved through science and reason. I would say that they make the mistake of assuming we humans can solve our own problems without any divine help. When we appreciate that we cannot make the changes we were aiming for in our own strength, then we can opt to ask for help from a higher power.
Engaging with the spirit of compassion
Many humanistic therapies and other secular activities quite rightly promote personal growth by emphasizing the individual’s dignity and worth. Many people doing this good work appreciate that we need to engage with a universal spirit of compassion and wisdom although they may not use traditional religious language to express this attitude.
You may wish to reflect on any time when you have felt connected to something higher than yourself. Like a spirit that has filled you with concern for the world and its environment and people.
I wonder what words you would use to describe any higher power of love you have felt the presence of? I would suggest that all of us, whatever our state, need inspiring motivation and enlightened understanding if we are to progress spiritually. We need the gift of a new character to replace the old one. In other words, we can’t go it alone. People are sometimes unclear about what they believe, change their minds over time, combine, what we might regard as apparently incompatible beliefs, and prefer to avoid the language of beliefs altogether preferring to speak in terms of feelings and experience. For what it’s worth to know, my own experience of life is I need divine help to escape my self-focus and find a caring attitude.
Copyright 2024 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Author of The Great Questions of Life
