Compassion

I had a moment last night.

A moment where I nearly lost it... dissolved into tears over something beautiful.

I got to hang out with my Capernaum friends last night. We had just finished singing "I Want it That Way" at top of our lungs.... eat your heart out, Backstreet Boys. You've got nothing on us! Anyhow, we'd just finished singing and it was time to simma down and talk about compassion. A girl named Stephanie got up and eloquently talked about what compassion looks like and asked for examples. One by one, they raised their hands to share stories of compassion that none of us really understood. Words jumped out that resonated... "Jesus", "mom", "friends", etc.

That's when Katie raised her hand and said, "Without my mom, I feel empty". You need to know that Katie's mom is in Iraq as a physician. She's been gone for a few months and will be gone a few more. Its obviously a huge adjustment to have her primary care-giver gone. She started to openly weep and something happened with lightning speed. Instantly, two students dashed to her side to hug and console her. Not leaders.... her peers. Just then, Stephanie was able to make a connection they could all understand... that was compassion.

Y'all. I had to pull myself together. Theirs is such a pure and unpretentious love... totally unselfish. I have a lot to learn from my new friends.

I rather look forward to it.