I have a God daughter who has been struggling. Intense battles within herself and with others. Decisional consequences have led to paths strewn with boulders and sharp stones. We had a short telephone call and she seemed more bummed than normal… and I stepped into her blue fog “What’s up?” In essence, a life long dream had died. Realization that her actions and decisions had led to a sheer cliff wall with no ascension path. Her dream faced an absolute dead end.
I felt a twist in my gut, tears in my eyes. Compassion overwhelmed me.
“I am so sorry. This must be so weighty and heavy to realize.” She grunted in acknowledgement; sniffed back tears.
We went on discussing possible other future paths but the deep feeling of compassion, lament of the lost, remained. I was deeply moved.
James 5:11 says that God is “compassionate and merciful.” When you look up the words in the original Greek it is an intense gut level, visceral feeling, a lament coupled with full affection. I think this is what I felt for my God daughter.
And, I think God feels it for us too…
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