1.21-When horrible things have happened to my family how can I keep a soft, compassionate heart?

1.21-
When horrible things have happened to my family how can I keep a soft, compassionate heart?

It is true that some of us have lives ruled by fear.  We fear getting involved because we will have to get more involved and we will be overcome by things and not have enough strength to go on with our lives.

Jesus answer is that when bad things happen we should keep connecting with our Father in heaven and He will provide all that we need.  Trust God by withdrawing from the crowd and getting into prayer and then back to our work of helping and healing people.

Keep your compassion even though you are surrounded by horrible things and big storms in your life and family life. 

When horrible things have happened to my family how can I keep a soft, compassionate heart?

I heard this on PBS on Thursday or Friday of last week.

·  Akhil Sharma:
People ask me all the time if I feel more Indian or more American.
When I was younger, if it were an Indian asking, I would say American. And if it were an American, I would say Indian. I did this because I was wanted to bother people.
I was unsettled, unhappy, irritable. And my taking the opposite of whatever the questioner was, was a way of unsettling him or her, making the person anxious about his own sense of home.
Now, when people ask me the question, I say, I am American.
So what happened? I think I became a little bit less selfish.
I grew up in a family where there was a lot of physical illness. As a child, I spent years in hospitals. I grew up feeling desperate, having the sense that there was only a limited amount of happiness in the world, and I had to grab whatever I could.
In my 30s, after decades of being hurt and angry, I decided, I can’t go on like this. I have to change. I have to change in every possible way.
I remember, one Monday morning, I was in the elevator of my apartment building, and I was going down, and a woman got in, and I asked her how she was doing. “Not well,” she said.
Mother of God, I thought, I have my own problems.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, because this was the polite thing to say.
“My son, he’s a paranoid schizophrenic. He’s 13, and he thinks the IRS is after him. I had to put him in the hospital yesterday.”
Mostly, what I felt at that moment was annoyance. This woman had a real problem and, in my heart of hearts, I just wanted to get back to thinking about myself.
I asked her if she wanted me to go with her to the hospital. I asked this because I had decided I would try to think a little bit less about myself and a little bit more about others.
As I asked this, though, I thought, please God, please, say no.
“Yes,” the woman said. “Thank you. That would be great.”
Unexpectedly, I felt enormous relief. It was as if space had opened up around me.
Every time I have given help when I have felt I needed it myself, I have had the same sensation, sometimes quickly, sometimes in a little bit. But there is space around me, that I have more options than I think.
It is generosity which reminds us we’re more than our problems.
What does belonging mean? It means feeling safe. It means feeling accepted. It has nothing to do with what country you were born in or your parents were born in.
The easiest way to feel safe is to offer patience, offer help. When we do this, we’re forced to step out of ourselves, and we’re reminded that the world is greater than our imagination.

Matthew 14.

14 At that ^[a]time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; ^[b]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[c]John as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced ^[d]before them and pleased Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ^[e]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

¹³ Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[g]people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ^[h]ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.