In Appreciation of Compassionate People

There is a sense in which the writing of my book was in the making for decades. During those years I made journal entries and notes about encounters with people and situations of need and sometimes overwhelming challenges along the path of life. I also reflected on and valued my colleagues and co-workers.  I felt the need for supporting relationships as I tried to accompany others and they accompanied me. Often the colleagues with whom I worked best had opposite personality traits to mine.  Those were relationships of both short and long duration.
I think most of us are impacted and changed by lasting relationships as well as brief and momentary encounters.  Many were interesting people, but the ones I remember and appreciated the most were generous people who displayed empathy and compassion.  I wrote about some of these friends and colleagues as well as those with whom I had brief encounters in "A Spirituality of Service", and listed some by name in the appreciation page. I cringe to think that I omitted some.

I am tempted to say that some of the people in my life were interesting characters, and they were. But all people are more than characters or people to be labeled. In my profession we fell into the risk of typing whole populations – the poor, the vulnerable, the disabled and oppressed.   

In his book, Clowning in Rome, Henri Nouwen wrote, “As long as people are little more than interesting characters to us, they remain opaque. We can be quite sure that no one who is approached as an interesting character is going to reveal to us his or her secret…  Especially in the field of the helping professions, the temptation to label people with easy characterizations is great, since it gives us the illusion of understanding.” 

Henri Nouwen said in another book, “It is not in excelling but in serving that makes us most human.” 

In truth, there have been only a few in my life that I would call deep and intimate friends, but there were dozens, maybe hundreds, whom I appreciated for their dedication and (as we say in Spanish) entrega – giving of self for the sake of others – living out what Jesus said, “Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate”.

·         Who is someone that comes to mind whom you admire for their entrega?

·         What traits and values do you have that you put to use for the sake of others?

·         What is your call to service now?