Journeys

To journey with Jesus means being compassionate. “Be compassionate as God is compassionate” (Luke 6:36) is the defining mark of the follower of Jesus. Compassion is the fruit of life in the Spirit and the ethos of the community of Jesus.

A story is told of a Baptist Minister during the American Revolution named Peter Miller, who lived in Pennsylvania and was friends with George Washington. But Miller had a bitter enemy named Michael Whitman, who did all that he could to frustrate and humiliate the good reverend. One day Mr. Whitman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die Peter Miller walked seventy miles from Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. General Washington said to Miller, that he was sorry but their friendship was not enough to pardon the life of his friend Michael Whitman. “My friend!” the old preacher said, “He is the bitterest enemy that I have.” And when Washington realised that Miller had walked 70 miles to offer practical assistance to an enemy, he granted the pardon.

Did you know that the word compassions means to suffer with.

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbour act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

Jesus invites us to be as God is – nothing less! He does not intend to overwhelm us or cause us feel frustrated by such an enormous invitation, but wants us to wonder at the immensity of God's capacity to love. In our humanity, we are not infinite, but we are called to great love and hope. The invitation reaches to us as we are in our lives, calling us into the life of God.

Loving Lord, there are so many things that are just not how they should be in our world today. I know that it grieves You that Your children are not more engaged in prayer about these atrocities. Father, I want to be a part of the change. I may be just one person, but with You, I know I can move mountains. Please give me Your compassionate heart, the eyes to see situations from a spiritual perspective, and the words to pray over them. Amen..