John 15:9 (NIV) "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love."
Compassion lies at the heart of our prayer for our fellow human beings. When I pray for the world, I become the world; when I pray for the endless needs of the millions, my soul expands and wants to embrace them all and bring them into the presence of God. But in the midst of that experience I realize that compassion is not mine but God's gift to me. I cannot embrace the world, but God can. I cannot pray, but God can pray in me. When God became as we are, that is, when God allowed all of us to enter into the intimacy of the divine life, it became possible for us to share in God's infinite compassion. -Henry Nouwen
Today's Best Illustrations Volume 5, (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "COMPASSION".
