Frederick Buechner once wrote:

“Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it’s like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.”

Most of us would probably nod our heads in agreement with this statement, but an honest appraisal of ourselves and our actions would show that we tend to be very protective of that line that separates what is “us” from that which is “others”. If we have found peace and joy in life, it is often not because we have procured it for those less fortunate than ourselves, but rather because we have become successful at ignoring the relative lack of things peaceful and joyful in the lives of people whose paths we cross everyday. The Bible is clear, however, that such disinterest in others’ needs is not only detrimental to those whom we choose to ignore, but it has undesirable ramifications for our own souls as well (see Matthew 25:41-46).

As Derek Webb sings in his song “This Too Shall Be Made Right”:

“I join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore.
I’m trading comfort for human life,
and that’s not just murder it’s suicide”.

That sound in the background is the sound of my toes being stepped on…

- Chuck Deitch

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 6:41 am and is filed under Week 4: Ravaged by a Holy Fire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.