Time for Compassion and Grace

I recently mentioned, in a LinkedIn post, some mental health wrestles I had in the middle of some hard life events. The actual content of the post is available online and it isn’t earth shattering in any way.

The post received more engagement than any of the things I had posted in the last twelve months. It seems mental health struggles, and being open about them, are hot topics now. And a good thing too. A friend of mine had a similar response to an open and honest post that they wrote last year.

Social media is often seen as the breeding ground of divisive, judgmental commentary. The place where people choose a side to belong to and join in the wholesale vilification of people on the ‘other side’ of whatever argument they are picking.

People using it can promote fake life stories, false ideals about body shapes and physical appearance, material possessions, and lives apparently so full of adventure (leaping off a mountain wearing a squirrel suit and gliding into the open side door of an aeroplane, anyone?) Negatively comparing our own very ordinary lives to these is proven time and again to lead to depression and anxiety.

So it is very helpful to see people responding compassionately when others reveal their own genuine difficulties online. But it is difficult for many of us to sustain compassion amid the daily grind of life. The hectic pace, the constant drip of bad news, the fear and worry about global conflicts, global markets and our own health (SO many people I know have had or still have this draining cough/cold that just won’t go away).

Compassion is necessary for us to put love into action on behalf of others. The Good Book repeatedly says that ‘Jesus was moved by compassion’ – moved to heal, moved to set people free from religious oppression, moved to weep with mourning friends and even to bring their loved ones back from death.

The word ‘compassion’ in the bible has its roots, not to put too fine a point on it, in a reference to emotions being ‘felt’ in our guts, our bowels. Sounds odd? Isn’t that our own experience though? How often do we say ‘my stomach is tied up in knots’ when we are anxious? And, if you’re anything like me, we find it harder to release and act on feelings of compassion for others when we are so stressed.

I wonder, could this be one reason why compassion is hard to find in so many places? Road rage has increased. Air rage too, according to the airlines. People seem quicker to get angry. Keyboard warriors fire off devastating salvos against people they don’t even know, triggered by opinions that they disagree with. Anxiety is ramped up, tension mounts. On the micro, individual level as well as between nations, it seems that forgiveness, grace and compassion are in short supply.

Yet hope glimmers through the turmoil. People respond positively when someone simply says ‘ouch, life hurts right now and I’m not doing it very well’. It’s risky to be vulnerable, but it’s worth it. Simple honesty, living authentically, could be a real key to unlocking the compassion and love that is within every human soul made in the image of our Creator.

Jesus moved in compassion all the time. Vulnerable, true to Himself, caring and open to others, motivated to do wonderful things for others. If compassion is to share in another’s suffering and do something about it, then God really has done compassion better than any of us – He became one of us to feel what we feel and to give us a genuine way to overcome the fears of life, to love Him, others and ourselves freely. Accessing His compassion may be just a prayer away. It’s worth a try the next time we find ourselves about to head into conflict. Heaven knows there’s enough of that about already in 2024.

By Ian Pilkington,  presenter on Cross Rhythms

Previously published in the February addition of the Plymouth Chronicle