Compassion – Page 2 – Benedictine Monastery

July 23, 2020

Generosity

In the movie “Play it Forward”, a young boy, Trevor, reverses the usual order on giving. When he gives to people he doesn’t want them to pay him back but rather to give his generosity ‘forward’ to three other people, who, in turn, are to give forward generously. The idea challenges our assumptions on generosity. Too often we have some type of account system going on in our heads when we give: “I did that for him last week, so now he should…”, “I gave her that for her birthday and she didn’t thank me properly…” and then “Do they deserve it?” Well, if they deserved it, it wouldn’t be generosity on our part but justice.

It can be a tough old world and Trevor’s idea hits a few bumps but ultimately it transforms people’s lives. Even though he is ‘only a kid’, and one from a difficult, poor situation, he leads a rich life. Each of us know people in our community who, giving freely of themselves, have open hearts and full lives. Even if they have no things to give, they share a kind word and a smile. They are often very cluey to what games other people may be playing but they don’t let that stop their generosity. And they are good to be with – of course they are, they are like God.

In this coming week, think about a few of these generous hearted people that you know and point them out to your children. Let them know how such people are esteemed and loved. They are amongst the best role models you can give them.

Loving God, your generosity surrounds us all our days. May your Spirit transform our hearts that we may give as Jesus did – from a full and generous heart. We ask this in his name, confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

Salvation anyone?

Catholics, as well as a number of other Christian groups, rabbit on about salvation. We want to be saved! But what do I need to be saved from? I, like most people reading this, am not an axe murderer. I have committed no serious crimes. On the whole, I think I am a reasonably polite person, who does various acts of kindness and even occasionally takes the shopping trolley back to the right place. Underneath this sense of well-being I recognise that if sufficiently provoked, if sufficiently stressed, I may do something heinous. But I doubt that this is going to happen anytime soon.

And it is from this attitude that I need to be saved. There are people who need to be saved from serious sins and disorders that only the help of a higher power, to use the term of AA, can give. But people, like me, need to be saved from complacent goodness. The problem with complacent goodness is that it really isn’t good. It is like living on a diet of jelly beans and ice-cream, forever sitting in front of the TV. If we think goodness is niceness with cleanliness added, we don’t know what goodness is.

Goodness means being like God and that is open and loving to all people. Being good takes discipline and work. It is like eating a healthy diet and exercising hard. It takes us beyond ourselves into another realm of being. Here’s an exercise for bringing goodness into your life. Think of someone you seriously don’t like. Now list 10 good points about them, well, alright 5. Now imagine having a conversation with them, where you can affirm their good points and raise the areas where you disagree with them. For me, to be able to do that would take the grace of God. When I can do it, I will have been saved. Till then, I’ll keep praying for grace of God’s salvation.

Loving God, you offer to all people the gift of salvation.. Send us the wisdom of your Spirit that we may follow Jesus’ call to the fullness of life – love of you and each other. We ask this in his name, confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris

July 23, 2020

Attenshun!!!

Attention is one of the most important gifts we can give in a relationship. Work, presents, even time, can be of little value unless we give our attention to another. When we give it well, we give of ourselves. But why don’t we recognise its importance?

Did you notice that the title beginning this piece is spelt incorrectly? Of course you did! We seem to have an inbuilt radar for noticing when other people do things wrong. We then pick them up on it – even if we don’t say anything. Our attention exudes criticism not love. But imagine if we used that attentiveness positively. Maybe ‘Johnnie’ is playing up and you notice he does this just after his father has returned to a mine shift – then you can take steps to deal with his need. Or Susie is ‘out of sorts’ because she has probably picked up on grandmother’s serious illness – which no-one is telling her about. Or your spouse or partner gets cranky regularly – is that when they are tired? All these are little things but they are the small attentivenesses that transform a relationship.

In the Gospel Jesus tells a strange parable about a master returning from a trip. His steward has been waiting, not knowing when he would return but attentive all the same. When the master returns he is so impressed at how ready everything is, he takes over and serves the steward. Would this happen? Of course not. But by using such an absurd example, Jesus shows how much value God puts on attentiveness. God wants us to notice the good things in our lives and thank him. When we do this, our eyes are opened even more the love of God in which we live and move and have our being.

Loving God, open our eyes to your Spirit at work in the people around us – the love of our families, the kindness of friends, the politeness of shop assistants. In turn, may we be attentive to them, showing your love. We ask this is Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 19, 2020

Mercy, not Judgment

Mercy, Not Judgment

Recently, I have been hearing some pretty fierce criticism of a group. When responding to some remarks, I pointed out that the group had only six people but the expectations placed on them would require a couple of hundred to do the work. Each and every one of us has been in their position: overwhelmed by the work we have to do and smacked by criticism for not living up to other peoples’ expectations. We could cry, and sometimes we do.

As I get older, I am more and more convinced by Jesus’ injunction, ‘Do not judge.’ Oh yes there are some situations, yes, yes, yes but in the majority of situations we are involved in we don’t know a great deal and we can make some pretty sweeping judgements based on a lot of ignorance. I remember being shocked when I heard the numbers of the above group. In the seven years since, I have not heard one person ask if they had the adequate numbers to do the job expected. We need to stop and think, to ask what practical constraints might be on others’ shoulders, to imagine what situations others might be in that would lead to them acting in that manner.

Instead of practicing judgement, we need to practice mercy. We can begin this day, perhaps with the next person we met. We can ask (interiorly of course) what might be the troubles they are laboring under, what might be the joy and love upholding them? Just wondering changes us. It opens our minds and hearts to the other person’s reality and in that space love and kindness, the signs of God’s love, grow and maybe even dance.

God of mercy, make me merciful as you are. Send me your gracious Spirit to wonder about the lives of the people I met and let me treat them with the tenderness that Jesus has for them. I ask this in his name confident that you will hear me.

Sr Kym Harris osb

July 19, 2020

‘Just think what they are going through.’

I am currently travelling through New Zealand at the end of a mild wet winter. In this landscape vibrant with green, inundated with showers, it is hard to imagine what drought would be like. Yet I must do that. Central Queensland is where I have come from and to where I will return and I am part of what happens to the people that form my larger community. Recognising what happens to those outside my personal circle is essential if I want to be a true compassionate human being, if I want to call myself Christian.

As God became human in Jesus, we can know that he knows what we go through, what we experience. But for us to appreciate what happens to others, we have to find out what is happening to them and to use our imagination to feel for them. When this is done, our help to others can be practical and sensitive. The project in our schools to help the farming community out west is an excellent example of this compassion at work. Drought doesn’t just affect the farmers, it also impacts on the town communities. The decision to give vouchers that can be used by local businesses helps not just individuals and families but the wider community.

As this project has been begun in our schools, what has happened is that the students themselves are coming up with creative initiatives to help raise funds. This is the marvel of good compassion. It not only stretches our hearts, minds and imaginations, it makes us into creative people. As we reach out to help, we become Godlike. Entering into the life and struggles of others, we become like Jesus and his life and love can flow through us.

Loving God, give me a wide heart and a good imagination and mind to enter into the suffering of others and to help them in sensitive and loving ways. We pray for those suffering from the drought, that they may have rain. We ask this in Jesus’ name confident that you will hear us.

Sr Kym Harris osb