So good! Augustine's Confessions is making my pink pen come dangerously close to running out of ink because of how much I have underlined! This guy truly understands the grace of God, in a way that many of us who were raised in church have a hard time appreciating. I just finished the end of Chapter 8 and his conversion reminded me of the story in Luke 7 of the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet. Because she had greater (sin) debt than the disciples sitting at the table with Jesus, she was more free in expressing her love and Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, her sins are forgiven- for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little" (v. 47). Oh that I may never forget for how much God has forgiven me!
But I digress... I meant to write my blog on the compassion/pity topic we touched on in class yesterday. It's funny how God works, because the night before I spent a significant amount of time looking up the Greek for compassion and pity as they are applied in the Gospels, because they are not interchangeable as something I read suggested. I won't bore you with the extensive notes I took, but I found that σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai)- means "to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)." Love AND pity= compassion. This means that compassion requires action, because love, as shown in the Bible, is not a feeling so much as it is an action. Pity, as shown by the Greek oiktirmos refers more to the emotions. Back to Augustine, while watching tragic plays that arouse the emotion of pity, one is able to detach the self from the action unfolding onstage. They feel for the actors but there is distance of the mind and heart telling them that it is not real and there is no need to become involved. Then, when confronted with a tragic situation in real life, many who have become accustomed to pity automatically detach themselves from the situation and stifle any thought of compassion. Contrary to this, those with compassion see the need and feel pity but also move to help the person out of love...and this is how we become the hands and feet of Jesus. He was never detached and distant from those who needed Him. He saw interruptions of His day and tragic circumstances as an opportunity to show compassion and act in love by meeting their needs. Pity requires nothing of you, whereas sometimes compassion requires all of you. But isn't that just like Jesus? :)
commented on Emily's "it's a gift..."
Awesome description of these two words from our class description! It is really great to see them contrasted in a very descriptive manner so that they are not confused to be the same thing. So let us love with true compassion that retains the power to change the world, and let us not just pity the world's decline from the sidelines of life!
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving us the definition of these words in Greek! This is a good explanation of why Augustine prefers compassion over pity. I also think that he doesn't approve of seeking to feel pity at a play, because that kind of pity isn't real and loving. He said, "For although a man who is sorry for the sufferings of others deserves praise for his charity, nevertheless, if his pity is genuine, he would prefer that there should be no cause for his sorrow" (Book III, 2). The people watching these plays don't really care about the troubles the characters are facing - they're just enjoying wallowing in sadness. Real pity is more concerned about people; this pity is an audience reaction to the sad violin music and fake crying during a staged death scene.
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