Compassion
The Call: Words Have Meanings — Cheryl
As Christians, compassion should be a very important word in our lives. It is, in fact, a word that gets bandied about in secular society an awful lot, especially at election time. According to The Free Dictionary, “compassion” is defined as “[d]eep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.” It is noble and right to feel compassion for others. Unfortunately, though, compassion is one of those virtues that tends to inspire actions that often wind up being rather shortsighted. Today, I read a piece on the shortsighted compassion of abortion, written by a man conceived in rape. He wrote, “There are real lives at stake, and abortion only allows us to pretend that those lives don’t exist. … Our lives are reflective of how our humanity is extremely compassionate when we don’t compound the horror of rape with the violence of abortion.”
The Response: Little Buddy — Jessica
Having many younger siblings can be a major annoyance. It can also teach you patience and compassion. At least I hope it can. Sometimes I wonder — but then I catch moments like this and I know that having to watch out for someone younger than them is teaching them to be more compassionate and understanding of the weaker.
Powerful quote and thoughtful take on the call. I really like the shot too, it looks like you are starting to play around in Photoshop! : )
My original plan was a shot of an older sibling helping a younger one. I was going to write about developing compassion in a large family. : )
I later decided to use the letters from the game we had played earlier (of course, they hadn’t actually been put away), with an appropriate quote. Little did I know I’d find the quote and my focus when I read the piece by Ryan Bomberger.
As for the Photoshop — I am, and it’s fun! : )
Oh, and I almost forgot to comment on your shot! It’s a nice one. Your two boys look so content together, and the setting is lovely.