Compassion

I am reading through Mark this week and keep running over this word compassion. When I think that Jesus had compassion, I assume that there was suffering that provoked it. I began to think, where would that be most provoked in me?

Several years ago a friend of mine from high school was in an accident. One pound of black powder blew up in his face. His glasses saved his eyes. But, he was burned pretty bad. While visiting him in the burn unit I met some kids who had been burned. I don't know how. One boy had been nick-named Batman by the nurses because he needed to wear a black suit of Lycra or some similar material to act as his skin for a while and cover his bandages. They called him Batman because the suit looked like batman, he liked batman, and it was very painful to get on and off. They needed some motivation for him to go through the process of applying it and removing it when necessary. He liked being Batman.

Today we have so many accoutrements in life that cover up reality, ease our pain, and dull our senses. Could it be that all those pain relievers (not just medical pain relievers) have cause us to lose our ability to notice pain, and thus our ability to have compassion? In that burn unit I was thrown back by the suffering. Thrown back to the reality of life. Life has many pains that can not be completely erased by medication, drugs, parties, entertainment, and comedy routines. For those pains, Jesus is teaching me that I need more compassion.