"Whatever God does, the first outburst is always compassion."
- Meister Eckhart
"In the word compassion, com means with, compassion to suffer with. To have compassion is to suffer with someone. To have compassion is not simply to love someone, not simply to pray for them, not simply to bring them a casserole and leave it at the door. To have compassion is to actually suffer with someone.
We don't give answers to people. We don't avoid or help others to avoid whatever life might bring. It is for us to have compassion, to be in the struggle together, and to know that in the struggle comes the very presence of Christ, that in the struggle comes the compassion of Jesus, that in the struggle we come to find His grace. That is richer and warmer than any answer."
Rev. Jim Wood, Norfolk First Presbyterian Church, February 2004
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