"The way of compassionate caring for others brings healing to ourselves, and compassionate caring for ourselves brings healing to others."(Reflection for Ragamuffins January 15)
When do I sense the most wholeness? Probably when I'm doing something for someone else. If I know that what I've done made a positive difference in that person's life, the occassional pity party gets avoided and certainly never takes root. I know there was a moment recently when I was really down on myself, felt useless and unwanted (not by anyone that actually mattered) when I spent the night as a host for Interfaith Hospitality Network. So I get and understand the first part.
But how does compassionate caring of myself bring healing to others? Well first off, if I'm not allowing myself to go down the rabbit hole, others do not have to bear with me and risk being brought down themselves. Two negatives rarely make a positive. If I can model good self care perhaps someone watching might follow the example and also begin to care about themselves too.
The other part of compassionate care is that gives 100% of itself. There's no half baked attempts.
So perhaps the next time you're feeling lousy in a non medical way, try doing something for someone else. And let that moment be the first steps in remembering that we are called by Christ to love God, neighbor and self. And if you ignore one of those three the others will suffer.
Blessings,
Ed
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment