What is your outlook on life? Are you have ½ full kind of person with plenty of positivity even through the most difficult moments of life? Or maybe you are a ½ empty kind of person that gets stuck dwelling on the “what if”, and the negative potentials of life?
A while ago I met with an old high school friend. We hadn’t seen each other in nearly 50 years! It was a great reunion. There was lots of conversation, laughs, reminiscing, questions, and answers; and the remarkable discovery that even as we have lived separate lives through these years, the things that drew us together in friendship in high school were still being lived in our lives even now!
When we finished visiting and went our separate ways, my stepmom, (who was at the reunion dinner) commented “She is a very upbeat kind of person! That is not to say that is sounds like life went the way of her high school aspirations, but along the way she always found the solid goodness of life.”
Life happens, as imperfect and wonderful as it is, life happens. How we respond to events, people, and the world around us is of vital importance. We always have the opportunity to actuate our faith in the world through our words, thoughts, and actions.
SCRITPURE
The feeding of the 5000, plus women and children, is a very important and popular story of Jesus miraculous compassion and power. All four Gospels tell this story. Yet, the very first line is often passed by with little notice in the retelling of this miracle story. Take a look at Matthew 14:13-21.
In the first line, Jesus goes off by himself in the boat, seeking a time of solitude and comfort of God’s presence as he mourns the death of his dearly loved cousin John. I wonder how many times growing up did the last Old Testament Prophet, John, and the Messiah, Jesus, shared God’s presence in prayer, conversation, and study of the Torah throughout their growing up years. They didn’t live that far away from each other. After all the pregnant Mary journeyed there and stayed with her cousin Elizabeth as they both gained comfort and confidence in becoming bears of God’s love.
I can imagine that Jesus’ grief led him to solitude as he got into a boat and crossed the sea to the other side. In the solitude of the lake as Jesus journeyed with God upon the water, I wonder how Jesus wept before God, prayed, and sought God’s strength and comfort to reorient his grieving heart. Did he begin to experience God’s peace in the assurance of resurrection and new life, or did that come later?
When Jesus reached the other side of the sea, he might have been exhausted emotionally, physically, and mentally from his sorrow or perhaps he was refreshed by God’s compassion and comfort. However he was feeling, there was no time on the other side of the lake to catch his breath. The crowds came rushing to him.
He could have made excuses; being exhausted from grief but Jesus chose to live compassion. Even if his cup was ½ empty, he chose to live ½ full in abundance of love. The historical Jesus had compassion to people in need, even if he was tempted to be distracted by his grieving heart.
TODAY’S PRAYER PRACTICE
I wonder today, is your cup ½ full or ½ empty? How does your heart break open in the love of God? Often, we may feel defeated by scarcity; questioning if our little action, one vote, one kind word, will have any impact upon the gapping wounds of our society.
The Practice of Compassion
Joyce Rupp writes a powerful book on compassion. It is entitled Boundless Compassion. Today you will Examen four areas of compassion within your heart of love. These areas come from Rupp’s book.
- Self-compassion: Jesus modeled this for us in our story today. Spend time prayerfully pondering how you live self-compassion.
- How do you accept yourself and love your self with patience, compassion, and the tenderness of God’s love?
- Compassion for others: Jesus’ self-compassion and caring for his own wounded and grieving heart did not impede his noticing the needs of others. He actuated his compassion for others by feeding a multitude of hungry folks!
- When have you actuated your compassion for others?
- What was that like for you and for the others?
- How did you notice God in the actuation of your compassionate heart?
- Compassion for creation: Our earth is saturated with storms. Many of the storms originating from nature leave a wide wake of destruction and death.
- How has human’s lack of care for creation added to the rising power of storms on earth?
- When have we overlooked littering or used up the natural resources of the earth in a destructive manner?
- How could God be inviting you to gain even greater compassion for marvelous gift of God’s creation?
- Compassion toward God: Often we think of God’s compassion for us. But for today consider how you can live compassion for God.
- What does compassion toward God live like?
- How do you spend your time, intention, energies, and presence in compassionate love toward God?
I commend this small group and individual prayer study book to you and anyone who seeks to increase boundless compassion and gift others with the abundance of God’s hope and love. May you move with Jesus into the solitary places of prayer to become an overflowing vessel of God’s compassionate love.
Enjoy praying.
