Compassion?

com·pas·sion Pronunciation: k&m-'pa-sh&nFunction: nounEtymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French, from Late Latin compassion-, compassio, from compati to sympathize, from Latin com- + pati to bear, suffer …: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it
- Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

I have been accused recently of having no compassion for the evacuees of Katrina, due to the one of my previous posts. What is compassion? Is it just feeling sorry for someone? Well from the definition above, it is more than that. Compassion includes a desire to alleviate the suffering.

How does one help alleviate another’s suffering? Let’s examine that for a moment. If I had a good friend who had a drinking problem, I would tell him what I thought. But, not just tell him, I would also try to find some way to help. I might even have to do an intervention. An intervention might seem harsh or cruel by an outside observer, but sometimes it is the most compassionate thing to do.

If someone is walking into traffic and does not see a car coming and the only thing you can do is knock him down to save his life; Then you knock him down. Now if someone walked up and saw you just as you pushed him, they might believe that you were mugging him, because they did not know the whole story.

I had a married friend in college. He and his wife had a 3 year-old boy, this boy was very active. When they went out in public, she would keep him in a harness with a leash, people would stare, and some even made comments about how cruel this mother was. I say she was doing a very compassionate thing, she did not want her son to hurt himself by running off, she was protecting him.

Sometimes we have to do the hard thing, or even the painful thing in the short term to be better in the long run. It is misplaced or even false compassion to allow someone to continue to do something you know is going to be worse for them in the long run, because you don’t want to hurt their feelings.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think what I said in my earlier blog is going to change or even help any of the evacuees. I am not that conceited to think I have that much influence. But I do think that some one might read it, and maybe consider it and possibly incorporate it into their life.