5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.
6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.
Jesus had another assignment period he was planning to leave, to go visit another group, "his other, other sheep.". But when he saw the tears, he was moved to compassion and changed his plans.
Compassion is not just sympathy and sorrow for another's misfortune. Compassion moves us to alleviate the suffering. In order to do that, we have to take action and since we usually are not just sitting around doing nothing, it means something else will have to laid aside.
I am a task oriented person. I am doing something all the time. I make lists and set goals and deadlines for myself. I like to be productive, to be learning.
I also like to do acts of service but my acts of service go on our calendar. I schedule them and I plan them. What is difficult for me is to be interrupted, to be asked to drop what I am doing to care for another's needs.
This vignette of the Savior's life as He sees the Nephites in tears, reminds me that compassion takes preference. People's needs take preference.
Can I feel compassion if I'm so absorbed in what I am doing? Do I sometimes feel irritation rather than compassion? What needs to change inside of me so that I might be more like my Savior?
Albert Einstein wrote,
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, apart limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, it kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
I like the visual he uses. I am in a prison of my own optical delusion. What keeps me there? Focusing on myself and my personal desires. I believe his description of "widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures"is a perfect description of the character of God. I have no doubt in my mind that God loves all of us equally and will listen to all prayers.
But I have trouble stopping what I am doing for a call from another.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,"We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer."
Suffering is the common lot of all humankind. As we become willing to see that suffering, and are moved by compassion, we fulfill our covenant as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints to bear one another's burdens, to mourn with those that mourn, and to comfort those that stand in need of comfort. And by fulfilling our covenant we begin to emulate Jesus Christ whose great compassion for all of us took Him to Gethsemane.
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