“If we long to be in the world who God is, then, somehow, our compassion has to find its way to vastness.”- Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart
Perfect Truth, pure Love, the Creator, Compassion, the Way, and the Life, all describe God. Despite varying beliefs on God’s nature, most of us believers claim that God is pure goodness. Whether He is the essence/energy of the universe or the old man in the sky, He created the earth in the image and likeness of Himself; ergo, he created us in Love.
God’s compassion has no bounds. He loves everyone, and this love manifests itself throughout our daily lives. Through our experiences, thoughts, and actions, God is present. The stranger who mysteriously smiled at you? That’s God. The person who paid for your morning coffee? That’s God. The flowers blooming in your garden? That’s God. Despite humankind turning against Him, he still shows His mercy through the good AND the bad that happen in our lives. Through our faults, God still presents mercy through the opportunity to die to our faults, and to transform the death bringing about a new life on earth. For example, if we have been treating others poorly, when we finally come to the realization of our behavior, we have the opportunity to rid ourselves of that fault and turn the death into an opportunity to become a more compassionate person. God never prevents us from growth, and this act of mercy shows the boundless compassion He has for us.
The line between human and divine draws itself in our difficulty to show boundless compassion to everyone. It is quite simple to say that you will be compassionate to everyone, but once someone hurts you, our emotions cloud our judgment and make it extremely difficult for us to forgive and show compassion. How can we show compassion to someone who degrades, dehumanizes, and alienates us? By using the example of God’s boundless compassion to motivate us to get as close to that level of compassion as we can. Of course, it is close to impossible, if not impossible, to achieve that level of compassion, but that fact should not stop us in serving others. Recognizing that we mostly all fall short in this boundless compassion helps us recognize that everyone’s experiences shape their actions/thoughts. When someone flips you off or degrades you, wonder about the reasons why they act as so. Maybe they currently have money troubles, health issues, family issues, or just a terrible day. Experiences that make me upset do affect the way I act towards others. I try to recognize the parts I do not like about myself in others, because I witness why I am the way I am and this can help me understand why other people are the way they are. By recognizing that we all sin leads us to a type of death to that sin. We can transform this dying by turning it into a bridge-way to the maximum level of compassion we can obtain. By trying to act with boundless compassion, we ‘act’ as God does, and this in turn levels us with Him, leading us to a new life on earth.
Soren Kierkagaard states in Works of Love that if person tells another that they do not love them anymore, and the beloved says, “Then I can also go along without loving you”, then it was not real love. True love endures and does not depend on the receiving of love. It is eternal and continues despite the absence of love from the beloved. The same author also states in this work, “Do not forget that it would be a beautiful, a noble, a holy fruit by which love in you would become known if in relation to another person, whose life perhaps bears poorer fruit, you were loving enough to see it as more beautiful as it is.” Love does not depend on the fruit that others bear, but rather love produces beautiful fruits in the one who expresses it. Just because someone does not show love to you, does not mean you cannot express your love to them.
Compassion is the Way to God, because God is love, and compassion requires an expression of love WITH the other. Compassion drives us to happiness, because instead of depending on our egos, we feel secure in ourselves and safe in the company of others. We feel safe with the knowledge that others will understand and walk with us because compassion moves in a cyclical motion. When one person expresses compassion, it starts to show up more and more. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12). Nonbelievers and believers alike, we were all made in the image of Love, therefore it is our duty to clothe ourselves in love.
