Purposeful Compassion

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

b'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)'