Readings 25 April 2025 Roborough Methodist Church
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Welcome, and opening prayer
Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, we offer a prayer for you to bring peace in all places. We pray for Compassion projects, for the local churches, their staff and volunteers. Please help those who are working in communities afflicted by crisis. Lord, we ask for peace in these nations and throughout the world. Please protect all those who are vulnerable to the effects of war and displacement from their homes. Please give those in authority the patience, humility, wisdom and endurance to persevere in bringing about positive solutions for their nations. Amen. https://www.compassionuk.org/blogs/prayers-for-the-world/ |
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Readings
We will start with a quote: “When a society treats its members with respect, cares for the weak and vulnerable among them and tends the natural world around… it can be expected to prosper and not decline.” – Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
So very true! The Latin root of compassion literally means “to suffer with’.
Compassion often includes the following:
Recognition of the suffering of others
Understanding that suffering is a universal experience
Understanding and empathizing with the emotional experiences of other people
Tolerating distressing and uncomfortable emotions that may arise
Feeling motivated to take action to help alleviate the suffering of others Kendra Cherry, https://www.verywellmind.com/compassion-vs-empathy-what-s-the-difference-7494906
Self-compassion is also important – without compassion for ourselves we find it hard to show compassion for others. It is like if we cannot forgive ourselves then how can we forgive others. And I find, when suffering, thinking with compassion of others suffering the same, helps my suffering. Compassion is vital in our world. KG
Jesus’ actions and teaching embodied caring and compassion for all, and he encouraged his followers to do likewise. Matthew 9:35-36 states ‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’
Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, cared for the crowds who came to hear him. He touched lepers, comforted those who were grieving, forgave and gave hope to the lost and broken. And of course what was Jesus’ ultimate compassionate act? His death on the cross – enduring death and suffering for us – for humanity, for the world.
Eucharist
THE SPIRIT BLOWS WHERE SHE WILL, ESPECIALLY IT seems through the lives of many people who would say they are not religious, yet who are doing the very things that Jesus did. They are leaving behind a comfortable lifestyle and going out to the poorest people in the world to help them grow food and build schools. They are campaigning for justice in an unjust world. They are tending sick or elderly neighbours or teaching disadvantaged children.
They are giving their lives in the care of others, pouring out their energy for the sake of peace and justice, yet they would never guess that they are being blessed and broken, and given for the world.
They would never guess that they are Eucharist. They are the living presence in the world of the communion bread and wine upon the altar.
Eucharist, perhaps, is not something to be reserved in a holy place, but spent, not something we are asked to worship, but something we are invited to become. And just as in Jesus’ day, sometimes we see this in action where we absolutely don’t expect it, and we find it lacking in some of the places where it is supposed to be permanently resident.
Silf, Margaret. Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn (pp. 42-43). Loyola Press. Kindle Edition.
States of Heart
The heart is where the beauty of the human spirit comes alive. Without the heart, the human would become sinister. To be able to feel is the great gift. When you feel for someone, you become united with that person in an intimate way; your concern and compassion come alive drawing some of the other person’s world and spirit into yours. Feeling is the secret bridge that penetrates solitude and isolation. Without the ability to feel, friendship and love could never be born. All feeling is born in the heart. This makes the human heart the true jewel of the world….
…The state of one’s heart inevitably shapes one’s life; it is ultimately the place where everything is decided. A courageous heart will go forth and engage with life despite confusion and fear. A fearful heart will be hesitant and will tend to hold back. A heavy heart will make for a gloomy, unlived life. But: A compassionate heart need never carry the burden of judgement. A forgiving heart knows the art of liberation. A loving heart awakens the spirit to possibility and engagement with others.
O'Donohue, John. Benedictus:(p. 107 - 110 ). Transworld. Kindle Edition.
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
For Friendship
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought into the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.
John O’Donohue, Benedictus: Kindle p56
We will start with a quote: “When a society treats its members with respect, cares for the weak and vulnerable among them and tends the natural world around… it can be expected to prosper and not decline.” – Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
So very true! The Latin root of compassion literally means “to suffer with’.
Compassion often includes the following:
Recognition of the suffering of others
Understanding that suffering is a universal experience
Understanding and empathizing with the emotional experiences of other people
Tolerating distressing and uncomfortable emotions that may arise
Feeling motivated to take action to help alleviate the suffering of others Kendra Cherry, https://www.verywellmind.com/compassion-vs-empathy-what-s-the-difference-7494906
Self-compassion is also important – without compassion for ourselves we find it hard to show compassion for others. It is like if we cannot forgive ourselves then how can we forgive others. And I find, when suffering, thinking with compassion of others suffering the same, helps my suffering. Compassion is vital in our world. KG
Jesus’ actions and teaching embodied caring and compassion for all, and he encouraged his followers to do likewise. Matthew 9:35-36 states ‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’
Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, cared for the crowds who came to hear him. He touched lepers, comforted those who were grieving, forgave and gave hope to the lost and broken. And of course what was Jesus’ ultimate compassionate act? His death on the cross – enduring death and suffering for us – for humanity, for the world.
Eucharist
THE SPIRIT BLOWS WHERE SHE WILL, ESPECIALLY IT seems through the lives of many people who would say they are not religious, yet who are doing the very things that Jesus did. They are leaving behind a comfortable lifestyle and going out to the poorest people in the world to help them grow food and build schools. They are campaigning for justice in an unjust world. They are tending sick or elderly neighbours or teaching disadvantaged children.
They are giving their lives in the care of others, pouring out their energy for the sake of peace and justice, yet they would never guess that they are being blessed and broken, and given for the world.
They would never guess that they are Eucharist. They are the living presence in the world of the communion bread and wine upon the altar.
Eucharist, perhaps, is not something to be reserved in a holy place, but spent, not something we are asked to worship, but something we are invited to become. And just as in Jesus’ day, sometimes we see this in action where we absolutely don’t expect it, and we find it lacking in some of the places where it is supposed to be permanently resident.
Silf, Margaret. Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn (pp. 42-43). Loyola Press. Kindle Edition.
States of Heart
The heart is where the beauty of the human spirit comes alive. Without the heart, the human would become sinister. To be able to feel is the great gift. When you feel for someone, you become united with that person in an intimate way; your concern and compassion come alive drawing some of the other person’s world and spirit into yours. Feeling is the secret bridge that penetrates solitude and isolation. Without the ability to feel, friendship and love could never be born. All feeling is born in the heart. This makes the human heart the true jewel of the world….
…The state of one’s heart inevitably shapes one’s life; it is ultimately the place where everything is decided. A courageous heart will go forth and engage with life despite confusion and fear. A fearful heart will be hesitant and will tend to hold back. A heavy heart will make for a gloomy, unlived life. But: A compassionate heart need never carry the burden of judgement. A forgiving heart knows the art of liberation. A loving heart awakens the spirit to possibility and engagement with others.
O'Donohue, John. Benedictus:(p. 107 - 110 ). Transworld. Kindle Edition.
Introduction to Silence
Blessing
For Friendship
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought into the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.
John O’Donohue, Benedictus: Kindle p56
Thoughts To Ponder
“Moved with pity he stretched out his hand and touched him” (speaking of a leper, Mark 1:41). “Jesus in pity touched their eyes” (of two blind men outside Jericho, Matthew 20:34).
“He had compassion on [the crowds] . . . and he healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).
Jesus also felt compassion for people who were suffering emotional distress. One day while walking past a little village Jesus saw a funeral procession in which a widow was going out to bury her only son. “When the Lord saw her his heart broke” (Luke 7:13, The Message), and Jesus restored the woman’s son to life
https://www.woh.org/2008/04/20/the-compassion-of-jesus/
Glen Stassen’s translation of the Beatitudes.
Joyful are those who are poor and humble before God, for their’s is the reign of God.
Joyful are those who are deeply saddened to the point of action, for they will be comforted.
Joyful are those whose wills are surrendered to God, for they will inherit the earth.
Joyful are those who hunger and thirst for restorative justice, for they will be filled.
Joyful are those who practice compassion in action, for they will receive compassion.
Joyful are those who seek God’s will in all that they are and do, for they will see God.
Joyful are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Joyful are those who suffer because of restorative justice, for theirs is the reign of God.
Joyful are you when they criticize, persecute, and slander you, because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in God.
For in the same way they persecuted the prophets before me.
Written by Glen Stassen, featured by Christine Sine, https://christinesine.substack.com/p/meditation-monday-blessed-are-the
Do stones feel?
Do they love their life?
Or does patience drown out everything else?
When I walk on the beach I gather a few
white ones, dark ones, the multiple colors.
Don’t worry, I say, I’ll bring you back, and I do.
Mary Oliver, https://oncaring.org/blog/mary-oliver-poetry-as-a-mode-of-caring
Choosing Life IN A NATIVE AMERICAN STORY, A GRANDFATHER tells his grandson how in every human heart two wolves dwell and are in constant conflict with one another until the day we die. The little boy looks up and asks, “But Grandad, which wolf wins?” Grandad replies, “The one you feed!” What we feed, by giving it our energy and attention, will grow. What we starve, by withholding our energy and attention, will shrink. Which aspects of ourselves would we like to grow, and which would we prefer were not so robust?
In everything we have a choice, especially in the attitudes we adopt toward our circumstances. And always, ultimately, the choice is between what tends to make us, other people, and all creation more fully alive, and what tends to diminish and deaden the best in us and in the world around us.
It’s time to turn our faces to the south, to the beams of the midday sun. May the light of due south sharpen our vision, enlighten all our choices, and help us to keep choosing those actions and attitudes that make us more fully human, more completely alive.
Silf, Margaret. Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn (pp. 105-106). Loyola Press. Kindle Edition.
‘When the crowded refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person remained calm and centered, it was enough. They showed the way for everyone to survive.’ – Thich Nhat Hanh
Compassion is our nature
From the perspective of Buddhist psychology, compassion is natural. It derives from our interconnection, or “interdependence.” This can be readily seen in the physical world. In the womb, every child is interdependent with its mother’s body. If either of them is sick, the other is affected. In the same way we are interdependent with the body of the earth. The minerals of the soil make up our wheat and our bones, the storm clouds become our drinks and our blood, the oxygen from the trees and forests is the air we breathe. The more consciously we realize this shared destiny, the more compassion arises for the earth itself.
The human community is equally interconnected. Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu puts it simply: “In Africa when you ask someone ‘How are you?’ the reply you get is in the plural even when you are speaking to one person. A man would say, ‘We are well’ or ‘We are not well.’ He himself may be quite well, but his grandmother is not well and so he is not well either. . . . The solitary, isolated human being is really a contradiction in terms.”
Jack Kornfield, https://jackkornfield.com/compassion-is-our-nature/
Over the weekend, as I was reading a book I had ordered from the library, this small piece of paper fell out. On the back, it says, "You're doing great! I hope you have a lovely day. I'm glad you found this doodle. Keep being awesome!" This person's anonymous thoughtfulness came as a lovely grace note in these days and invited me to think about how I might pass along that spirit of kindness. Where have you received kindness lately? Where are you feeling drawn—or challenged—to offer it?
Jan Richardson, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/JanRichardsonAuthor
Structures of Kindness
Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has the depth of colour and patience to illuminate what is complex and rich in difference.
There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative; but if we remain generous and patient, kindness inevitably reveals itself. Something deep in the human soul seems to depend on the presence of kindness; something instinctive in us expects it, and once we sense it we are able to trust and open ourselves…
The word ‘kindness’ has a gentle sound which seems to echo the presence of compassionate goodness. When someone is kind to you, you feel understood and seen. There is no judgement or harsh perception directed towards you. Kindness has gracious eyes; it is not small-minded or competitive; it wants nothing back for itself. Kindness strikes a resonance with the depths of your own heart; it also suggests that your vulnerability though somehow exposed is not taken advantage of; rather, it has become an occasion of dignity and empathy. Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has the depth of colour and patience to illuminate what is complex and rich in difference.
Despite all the darkness, human hope is based on the instinct that at the deepest level of reality some intimate kindness holds sway. This is the heart of blessing. To believe in blessing is to believe that our being here, our very presence in the world, is itself the first gift, the primal blessing…
John O'Donohue, Benedictus: (p. 182- 183 ) Transworld. Kindle Edition.
May the God of grace
lift you from where you are
and raise you onto higher ground.
May the God of peace
still the anguish of your soul
and bring you to a quiet place.
May the God of love
who warms our fragile hearts
be the strength you find today.
Christine Sine, https://godspace.wordpress.com/tag/christine-sine/
“Moved with pity he stretched out his hand and touched him” (speaking of a leper, Mark 1:41). “Jesus in pity touched their eyes” (of two blind men outside Jericho, Matthew 20:34).
“He had compassion on [the crowds] . . . and he healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).
Jesus also felt compassion for people who were suffering emotional distress. One day while walking past a little village Jesus saw a funeral procession in which a widow was going out to bury her only son. “When the Lord saw her his heart broke” (Luke 7:13, The Message), and Jesus restored the woman’s son to life
https://www.woh.org/2008/04/20/the-compassion-of-jesus/
Glen Stassen’s translation of the Beatitudes.
Joyful are those who are poor and humble before God, for their’s is the reign of God.
Joyful are those who are deeply saddened to the point of action, for they will be comforted.
Joyful are those whose wills are surrendered to God, for they will inherit the earth.
Joyful are those who hunger and thirst for restorative justice, for they will be filled.
Joyful are those who practice compassion in action, for they will receive compassion.
Joyful are those who seek God’s will in all that they are and do, for they will see God.
Joyful are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Joyful are those who suffer because of restorative justice, for theirs is the reign of God.
Joyful are you when they criticize, persecute, and slander you, because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in God.
For in the same way they persecuted the prophets before me.
Written by Glen Stassen, featured by Christine Sine, https://christinesine.substack.com/p/meditation-monday-blessed-are-the
Do stones feel?
Do they love their life?
Or does patience drown out everything else?
When I walk on the beach I gather a few
white ones, dark ones, the multiple colors.
Don’t worry, I say, I’ll bring you back, and I do.
Mary Oliver, https://oncaring.org/blog/mary-oliver-poetry-as-a-mode-of-caring
Choosing Life IN A NATIVE AMERICAN STORY, A GRANDFATHER tells his grandson how in every human heart two wolves dwell and are in constant conflict with one another until the day we die. The little boy looks up and asks, “But Grandad, which wolf wins?” Grandad replies, “The one you feed!” What we feed, by giving it our energy and attention, will grow. What we starve, by withholding our energy and attention, will shrink. Which aspects of ourselves would we like to grow, and which would we prefer were not so robust?
In everything we have a choice, especially in the attitudes we adopt toward our circumstances. And always, ultimately, the choice is between what tends to make us, other people, and all creation more fully alive, and what tends to diminish and deaden the best in us and in the world around us.
It’s time to turn our faces to the south, to the beams of the midday sun. May the light of due south sharpen our vision, enlighten all our choices, and help us to keep choosing those actions and attitudes that make us more fully human, more completely alive.
Silf, Margaret. Compass Points: Meeting God Every Day at Every Turn (pp. 105-106). Loyola Press. Kindle Edition.
‘When the crowded refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person remained calm and centered, it was enough. They showed the way for everyone to survive.’ – Thich Nhat Hanh
Compassion is our nature
From the perspective of Buddhist psychology, compassion is natural. It derives from our interconnection, or “interdependence.” This can be readily seen in the physical world. In the womb, every child is interdependent with its mother’s body. If either of them is sick, the other is affected. In the same way we are interdependent with the body of the earth. The minerals of the soil make up our wheat and our bones, the storm clouds become our drinks and our blood, the oxygen from the trees and forests is the air we breathe. The more consciously we realize this shared destiny, the more compassion arises for the earth itself.
The human community is equally interconnected. Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu puts it simply: “In Africa when you ask someone ‘How are you?’ the reply you get is in the plural even when you are speaking to one person. A man would say, ‘We are well’ or ‘We are not well.’ He himself may be quite well, but his grandmother is not well and so he is not well either. . . . The solitary, isolated human being is really a contradiction in terms.”
Jack Kornfield, https://jackkornfield.com/compassion-is-our-nature/
Over the weekend, as I was reading a book I had ordered from the library, this small piece of paper fell out. On the back, it says, "You're doing great! I hope you have a lovely day. I'm glad you found this doodle. Keep being awesome!" This person's anonymous thoughtfulness came as a lovely grace note in these days and invited me to think about how I might pass along that spirit of kindness. Where have you received kindness lately? Where are you feeling drawn—or challenged—to offer it?
Jan Richardson, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/JanRichardsonAuthor
Structures of Kindness
Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has the depth of colour and patience to illuminate what is complex and rich in difference.
There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative; but if we remain generous and patient, kindness inevitably reveals itself. Something deep in the human soul seems to depend on the presence of kindness; something instinctive in us expects it, and once we sense it we are able to trust and open ourselves…
The word ‘kindness’ has a gentle sound which seems to echo the presence of compassionate goodness. When someone is kind to you, you feel understood and seen. There is no judgement or harsh perception directed towards you. Kindness has gracious eyes; it is not small-minded or competitive; it wants nothing back for itself. Kindness strikes a resonance with the depths of your own heart; it also suggests that your vulnerability though somehow exposed is not taken advantage of; rather, it has become an occasion of dignity and empathy. Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has the depth of colour and patience to illuminate what is complex and rich in difference.
Despite all the darkness, human hope is based on the instinct that at the deepest level of reality some intimate kindness holds sway. This is the heart of blessing. To believe in blessing is to believe that our being here, our very presence in the world, is itself the first gift, the primal blessing…
John O'Donohue, Benedictus: (p. 182- 183 ) Transworld. Kindle Edition.
May the God of grace
lift you from where you are
and raise you onto higher ground.
May the God of peace
still the anguish of your soul
and bring you to a quiet place.
May the God of love
who warms our fragile hearts
be the strength you find today.
Christine Sine, https://godspace.wordpress.com/tag/christine-sine/
