{"id":27236,"date":"2025-01-19T03:12:51","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T08:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/henrykarlson\/?p=27236"},"modified":"2025-01-19T03:12:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T08:12:51","slug":"the-christian-way-kindness-compassion-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/henrykarlson\/2025\/01\/the-christian-way-kindness-compassion-and-community\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christian Way: Kindness, Compassion, And Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Faris knight: From The Monastery Of Saint Macarius The Great \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Compassion<\/a> and mercy<\/a> are both qualities which Christians must embrace in their lives if they are going to be faithful to the call Christ has given them. Christians should be kind and caring, taking into consideration the needs of others, whether or not they are Christians. With their fellow Christians, they are expected to form a bond of love, to come together and live in harmony with each other, presenting to the world the love of Christ through the love they share with one another. When they don\u2019t do any of this, when they are unkind, cruel, merciless, and ignore the way of love, they are to be corrected, in as sound and prudential means as possible.<\/p>\n

To be a Christian, is to take on the mantle of Christ, to become a part of him and his body<\/a>, and in doing so, to share in his loving service to the world. Paul<\/a> knew this, which is why he not only would admonish those Christians who continued to embrace grave sins, grave injustices,\u00a0 he encouraged the rest of the faithful to do likewise. Christians, in their duty to each other, must share with each other the way of Christ, teaching each other through word and deed what is expected for all of them. Only in this way can they properly come together to offer their love and thanksgiving to God:<\/p>\n

Put on then, as God\u2019s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.\u00a0 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.\u00a0 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.\u00a0 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God \u00a0\u00a0(Col. 3:12-16 RSV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are many ways we can do this. Each have their value and their place. What is important is we do it with humble love, making sure that we do not become prideful in the process. St. Isaac the Syrian<\/a> used the actions of St. Macarius<\/a> the Great as an example of how a Christian, full of grace, full of spiritual insight, full of love, should help others:<\/p>\n

But as for me, I will not neglect the saying concerning Saint Macarius the Great, which was recorded as a censure of those who despise their brethren. Once he went to visit a certain brother who was sick. When Saint Macarius asked the brother if there were anything he wanted, he replied that he wanted a little freshly baked bread. He said this because all the monks of that place had then the custom of baking bread once a year, at most. Straightway, therefore, that man worthy of blessedness stood up, and though he was ninety years of age, he walked from Scete to Alexandria forty miles and more with dried bread laid up in his cloak, and he exchanged it and brought to the sick man that which he besought. [1]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Macarius went out of his way to help a sick brother, a brother who wanted to eat fresh bread; no one else would help the sick man, indeed, it is likely many of the monks would have thought it was a foolish request. \u00a0Nonetheless, Macarius, a very old man, showed everyone else what they could and should be doing \u2013 serving those in need, even if it is a fellow monk. Just because the sick man was a monk did not mean he could not and should not at times enjoy the good things in life, especially when doing so would also do him some good (as fresh food would likely help him recover faster than old, dry bread).<\/p>\n

Another Macarius, St. Macarius of Alexandra<\/a>, shows us that when we follow the path of love, we can and should show compassion to all living things<\/a>. Humanity is made to be stewards<\/a> of creation, looking after and caring for all of it and not just their own kind:<\/p>\n

According to one story about the desert monks, a hyena once brought Macarius of Alexandria a blind pup. Following the example of Jesus, Macarius put spittle in the pup\u2019s eyes, and the pup was healed. The mother returned the next day with the hide of a large sheep as a gift. Macarius was upset and made the hyena promise never again to kill sheep or any other creature but only to eat animals already dead. He offered to feed her if she did not find enough carrion. The hyena took the old man\u2019s advice and continued to return to him for food. The story illustrates that the desert ascetics were concerned not only with befriending wild animals but also with reducing the amount of suffering among them (Bratton, 1988:38-40).[2]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Being kind<\/a> and considerate, therefore, are qualities Christians should embrace throughout their lives . Yes, there will be times they will need to be strict, as when they deal with grave injustices, but even then, they should be as charitable and compassionate as possible. Those who denounce the \u201cchurch of nice<\/a>\u201d denounce the spirit of kindness and charity which Scripture consistently calls Christians to follow.\u00a0 Of course, Christians are to embrace many virtues and harmonize them together; being \u201ckind\u201d and \u201cnice\u201d without prudence so as to ignore injustice in the world ultimately undermines the point of such compassion, because such injustices will end up hurting everyone.\u00a0 That is why, though being kind and considerate is important, we must do so embracing all the virtues, not just some, lest by engaging any of the virtues in an extreme<\/a> fashion, we end up undermining them all.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Saint Isaac the Syrian, The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. <\/em><\/a>Trans. Monks of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Rev. 2nd<\/sup> ed (Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011), 530 [Homily 76].<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Stephen H. Webb, On God and Dogs <\/em><\/a>(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 31.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Compassion and mercy are both qualities which Christians must embrace in their lives if they are going to be faithful to the call Christ has given them. Christians should be kind and caring, taking into consideration the needs of others, whether or not they are Christians. 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