“The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another’s pain as one’s own, and to act to take that pain away…” — Irish Poet John Connolly.
Every month, All Peoples makes materials available to facilitate exploring a theological theme. Our October theme asks us to explore CULTIVATING COMPASSION.
It might be tempting to think of this month’s theme as something light and, well, sort of fluffy. More like petting a house cat than taming a tiger. After all, compassion sounds…well, nice. It conjures up warm feelings and tender thoughts. Images come to mind of people telling each other they are holding them in their hearts.
It would seem to be all about emotional connection and empathic feeling, but that is only the seed of compassion. The thing about compassion is that while it may begin with empathic feelings, it can not end there. It’s about something deeper: an impulse that drives us to action. Empathy has feeling another’s pain covered but compassion takes it a step further. It urges us to do something about that pain.
In other words, compassion calls us to change things! It’s not just about comforting others; it’s about our comfort getting disturbed. It’s about connecting with another’s pain and struggle so deeply that we can’t rest until they rest. When we feel compassion – real compassion – we don’t just understand another’s pain, we want it to stop. And then we do what’s needed to make it stop. Maybe our most important question this month isn’t “How deeply are you able to feel?” maybe it’s , “What are you prepared to do?
This month, our community will put empathy into action with our first annual Fall Fest in support of Eastern Area Community Ministries (EACM). EACM provides families in Eastern Jefferson County with emergency assistance with utilities and rent, access to a food pantry, and programming to empower and build self-reliance. We all feel empathy for the growing number of individuals and families who are struggling to provide enough food and adequate shelter. Fall Fest is an opportunity to come together to actively work to make a difference through supporting EACM with our donations. That is what cultivating compassion looks like.
Connecting our monthly theme to one of our Unitarian Universalist values is a good practice. In the case of cultivating compassion, it’s helpful to reflect on our core value of equity which calls us to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities where every person has the resources to flourish with inherent dignity and worthiness.
With all that is happening in our nation and our world, compassion, and the actions it calls us to, is far from a light and fluffy theme to explore. Compassion is the key to building the world we yearn for.
One of the best ways to explore our monthly theme is to talk about it with people who are close to you. It’s also a great way to develop trust and deepen our relationships! So let’s explore together! Click
HERE to access a list of reflection questions.
