by Senior Minister Rev. John Morehouse
Amid the darkness and turmoil of our time, I am more aware than ever of the real suffering we are going through. Our world is suffering from the callous cruelty of the present administration: children dying from lack of medicine and food once provided by our country, island nations being threatened by climate change, and the ongoing onslaught of war and genocide. Our country is suffering from the lack of services once provided to our most vulnerable fueled as it is by the xenophobia and fear gripping our electorate. Our communities are suffering from the disruption of immigrant communities and the disappearance of those deemed enemies of the state. And yes, we are suffering in the exhaustion of fear and anxiety all this is bringing upon those we love.
Pain is a part of life, but how we suffer from that pain depends a great deal on who is with us through it. Rabbi Esther Adler writes: “There is a hierarchy of responses when we encounter suffering. Pity says, ‘I see your pain.’ Sympathy says, ‘I understand your pain.’ Empathy says, ‘I feel your pain.’ Compassion says, ‘I am with you in your pain and I will help.'”
We cannot stop the pain of the world, but we can act with compassion towards those in need of love. In fact, this is the reason we gather as a religious community week after week. We are here to be with one another through suffering. The word “compassion” actually means to “suffer with.”
Every religion, including ours, has a reason to cultivate compassion. Some see it as extension of God’s love; God suffers with us as we journey through these dark times. We tend to see cultivating compassion as a part of our responsibility towards one another as embodied in our faith in the inherent worth of each person.
Many of us are working diligently to counteract the darkness around us. Only light can dispel darkness and we are individually and collectively doing what we can. However, the rock upon which our justice work stands must be the compassion we show the world, one another, and ourselves.
Go Shining,
Rev. John