An excerpt from the book “Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life,” by Henri Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill and Douglas A. Morrison:
Christians have been understandably criticized for having an unhealthy attraction to suffering.
But suffering is not the issue. Fellowship with Jesus Christ is not a commitment to suffer as much as possible, but a commitment to listen with him to God’s love without fear.
It is to obedience, understood as an intimate, fearless listening to God’s continuing love, that we are called.
We are often tempted to ‘explain’ suffering in terms of ‘the will of God.’ Not only can this evoke anger and frustration, but also, it is false.
‘God’s will’ is not a label that can be put on under unhappy situations.
God wants to bring joy, not pain, peace not war, healing, not suffering.
Therefore, instead of declaring anything and everything to be “the will of God,” we must be willing to ask ourselves where in the midst of our pains and sufferings we can discern the loving presence of God.
When, however, we discover that our obedient listening leads us to our suffering neighbors, we can go to them in the joyful knowledge that love brings us there. We are poor listeners because we are afraid there is something other than love in God. This is not so strange since we seldom, if ever, experience love without a taint of jealousy, resentment, revenge, even hatred. Often we see love surrounded by limitations and conditions. We tend to doubt what presents itself to us as love and are always on guard, prepared for disappointments.
The skeptic in us does not surrender easily. For this reason we find it hard to simply listen or obey.
But Jesus truly listened and believed because only he knew the love of his father:
‘Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God; he has seen the Father.’ (jn 6: 46)
‘You do not know him, but I know him because I have come from him.’ (Jn 7:28)
Jesus did not come into the world clinging to his Father as if it were his private domain.
He came to include us in his divine obedience. He wanted to lead us to God so that we could enjoy the same intimacy he did. . . .
When obedience becomes our first and only concern, then we too can move into the world in compassion and feel the suffering of the world so deeply that through our compassion we can give new life to others. . . .
By viewing compassion as an obedient response to our loving God, we can avoid the constant temptation to view it as a noble act of self-sacrifice.”
