Purposeful Compassion

Published: Sept. 20, 2009, 2:30 p.m.

The\nword \u2018compassion\u2019 comes from two Latin words - \u2018suffer\u2019 and \u2018with\u2019.\nTherefore, to show compassion means to suffer with someone, to enter\ninto a person\u2019s negative situation and become involved in that person\u2019s\ndistress. Compassion is not a theoretical attitude, put a practical\ninvolvement. It involves doing, not just thinking or saying! \u2018A\ncompassionate response to suffering requires that (a) one be moved by\nthe suffering of the other; (b) act to remove the immediate effects of\nthe suffering; and (c) respond to correct the circumstances which may\nhave given rise to the suffering itself.\u2019 (New Dictionary of Christian\nEthics)