Suffering With Others

Suffering with Others

What moves you to compassion?

When the world suffers a great disaster—an earthquake, a tsunami, a hurricane—people are often moved to compassion and they send money. Depending on how big the disaster is, they may send a lot of money.

But as much as we’d like to think otherwise, money doesn’t really cost us anything. Is our compassion genuine? Probably. But the compassion that matters isn’t so much a feeling for someone’s suffering but rather joining them in it.

Hurricane Katrina was a good example. People sent a lot of money, and some dropped what they were doing and went to see what they could do. They showed up with medical aid, food, and water. They rebuilt homes. Most important, they sat and listened to those who’d lost everything. They provided comfort by their very presence.

This is the compassion that matters most—to join people wherever they are, especially when they’re all alone in their suffering.

When Jesus saw her weeping . . . he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. . . . Jesus wept. —John 11:33, 35