Another Working Day: Compassion in the Face of Overwhelm

It has been a rough two months. It’s hard to believe that it was only 7 weeks ago that Seattle discovered its first coronavirus death and the whirlwind we’re all in started in motion. I have never felt so helpless in the face of hardship before. I’ve spent a lot of these last months thinking about how to be a community and how to show compassion when I can’t go anywhere and there’s really not anything for me to do. Yes, we stay home as an act of compassion but, can I confess? That doesn’t feel like much.

We’re not being asked to fix it all, just do our part. And I suppose that’s the most true statement I’ve ever heard about compassion. Pain and fear and death will always be a part of this life. But that doesn’t give us an excuse to hide from those things. Even when we’re shut up in our houses, compassion tells us to offer what we have to make it just a little bit better.

But after this season of bad news after bad news, of hearing about body counts and months-long quarantines, I have one question. How do we stay motivated when things seem to just keep getting worse?

And then I’m reminded that compassion turns my head away from that bad news and points it down at the things right in front of me. All it asks is that I keep doing the work that I do have, helping the people I can. Compassion makes us promise to show up, even if it’s a losing battle. It’s admitting that the future is frighteningly uncertain and school is still closed and people are dying – and still there’s value in trying. I’m reminded of the words of the great Paul Simon in American Tune:

We come in the age's most uncertain hours

And sing an American tune.

Oh, and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright

You can't be forever blessed

Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day

And I'm trying to get some rest

That's all, I'm trying to get some rest.

The enemy of compassion is indifference. Not mistakes or even malice. It’s the sense that there is too much pain for our effort to matter. Compassion tells us there’s still value in trying.

So today, in whatever way you can, show up. Is someone lonely? Text them. Is someone grieving? Encourage them. Is someone overwhelmed? Ask how you can help.

And then, tonight, get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be another working day.