Are You Modeling Compassion?

Are You Modeling Compassion? (Writer's Opinion)
By Carol Round, Special to ASSIST News Service
CLAREMORE, OK (ANS – June 7, 2015) -- “‘Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise’”—Luke 10:36-37(ESV).
In the parable of “The Good Samaritan,” a lawyer puts Jesus to the test, asking Him, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replies, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
The lawyer replies, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbors as yourself.”
Jesus then says, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” Seeking to justify himself, the lawyer asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus continues the conversation with the parable of the Samaritan, the only one who stops to help a man who is attacked by robbers and left half dead on the side of the road. The victim had already been ignored by a priest and a Levite. But, the Samaritan had compassion, tended to the man’s wounds and took him to an inn, where he paid the innkeeper and promised to return and pay for any difference for the man’s stay.
In the dictionary, compassion means “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” Synonyms for compassion include grace, mercy and kindness. Don’t those words describe God’s goodness to us?
In the news recently was the story of a 5-year-old Alabama boy who demonstrated what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. His story has become an international symbol of compassion as it has spread across the Web.
Josiah Duncan and his mother entered a Prattville Waffle House recently where the boy spotted a scruffy man sitting in a booth. When Josiah asked about the man’s appearance, his mother explained the man was probably homeless. However, what really bothered the young boy was the man didn’t have any food. The homeless man was not being waited on, so Josiah jumped up and asked the man if he needed a menu. After all, says the youngster, “You can’t order without a menu.”
Josiah then begged his mother to buy the destitute man a meal. Initially, the impoverished man was going to order an inexpensive hamburger, but the mother and her son told him to order whatever he wanted.
But Josiah’s compassion didn’t end there. When the man’s food arrived, the 5-year-old insisted on praying over it with him.
“I wanted to say the blessing with him,” Josiah told a local Alabama TV station.
“His blessing had the entire restaurant in tears,” says his mother. “Watching my son touch the 11 people in that Waffle House tonight will be forever one of the greatest accomplishments as a parent I’ll ever get to witness.”
As parents and grandparents, don’t you think it’s our duty to model compassion?
Photo captions: 1) Ava Faulk with son Josiah Duncan who insisted she buy the homeless man some food. 2) Carol Round.
Email carolaround@yahoo.com  for information about speaking at your next event. For more inspiration, check out her blog at www.carolaround.com.
** You may use this or any of our stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)
Read more