A need for compassion

She was only 4-years old, but had a heart and compassion much larger than her age or size. Donna was one of the many foster children that came to live with us over the years. She and her younger sister stayed with us for a rather short period of time, but they won our hearts instantly. What I remember about Donna, besides her long beautiful hair, was her ability to sense when you didn’t feel well emotionally. She would simply come over, sit in your lap, place her small little arm around your shoulder and say, “That’s alright, I will cry with you and make it better.” And, it usually did. The world needs more Donnas.

Our church is presently involved in the program Celebrate Jesus which asks teams to go from door-to-door in our immediate neighborhood and share the good news that their neighboring church cares for them. If the conversation warrants it then the visitors ask if there are any prayer concerns. Sunday afternoon and Monday morning an older trailer park just west of the church was visited. When the visitors asked if there were any prayer concerns they heard a ton of hurt and pain in these people’s lives – from joblessness, to various kinds of illnesses, to relational conflict. That small trailer park village needs a Donna in their lives.

Over the last month or so I’ve been visiting in a cancer ward at a local hospital – talk about pain, anxiety, frustration, doubt, fear – all those emotions plus a ton more can be found in every room. A Donna could find full time employment just caring for the needs expressed within that ward.

I begin to ask myself, where is the church to be found in these varied circumstances? Where are the Donnas who have deep compassion … a desire to make things better … and the belief that by their simple acts they could actually make a difference? That is the one lingering impression of Donna that continues to be carried in my heart – she really believed that she could love the pain and problem away.

Somehow the church in the 21st Century has bought into the scientific and political jargon and structure that we are limited in our abilities, based on the a few pills, an operation, a city or country agency, to effect real change – life changing change – in the lives of people around us. What has happened to the belief that with God “all things are possible”? We have sold out our theology to the world order and a more “practical” “concrete” “logical” belief system that has little to do with the Kingdom of God.

We really don’t have to look very far before discovering a lot of pain and hurt in this old world. May we all discover the “Donna” inside of us and the ability to believe that change can happen because we dared to care ... and besides, it really doesn’t require a lot from us!

Quote for today: Once during Queen Victoria's reign, she heard that the wife of a common laborer had lost her baby. Having experienced deep sorrow herself, she felt moved to express her sympathy. So she called on the bereaved woman one day and spent some time with her. After she left, the neighbors asked what the queen had said. "Nothing," replied the grieving mother. "She simply put her hands on mine, and we silently wept together." Source Unknown