DR. SUSAN MOSSMAN RIVA
  • Home
  • About
  • Buy the Book
    • Picture Book Page
  • Blog
    • Blog Chapters
    • Newsletters
  • Contact



​​Welcome to my Blog
As we behold, we actively transform the image.
Website User Guide:
Each chapter in Homing In is supported by a blog that offers supplemental articles, film documentaries, as well as important links and insights that support the reader’s transformational process. These story strands are part of a holistic teaching story or mandala. Each blog further develops the themes presented in the book.The blog is an online learning course in the Social Sciences that informs, guides, and connects readers to important concepts as they embark on their transformational journey.

Compassion in Action

5/26/2023

0 Comments

 
Compassion offers directionality as we connect with feelings of compassion. The etymology of compassion contains both passion and compass. Compassion establishes “fellow feeling” and provides us with directionality. The Passion in the Christian tradition refers to the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection. Passion can be understood as a willingness to suffer for what you love. Compassion for others is interconnected with the courage to act.
 
When Jesus asks, “Take this cup from me,” God sends an angel. The cup refers to his life. We are receptacles of the lifeforce, and the cup is a metaphor for lifeform that can be understand as a sacred vessel. In the artistic representations of the last supper, the cup symbolizes our communion with Jesus Christ who is risen. The Trinity, or union of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, provides the foundation for Christian theology. The reference and metaphor of the cup in the scriptures can later be found in the legend of The Holy Grail that has had an important influence on Western culture. The search of the Holy Grail and the desire to drink from the cup of eternal life provided a storyline for questing.
 
When facing life’s sufferings, we call to divine presence to ease our pain and guide us, following Jesus’ example. We seek spiritual communion and spiritual orientation. Not only can we call to angels, but Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be sent to accompany us. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit would be sent as a companion and teacher.
 
The Pentecost celebrates the appearance of the Holy Spirit 50 days after Easter. The Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and guided them to spread the word of Jesus Christ in the world. Pentecost is a day of spiritual baptism that allows us to have a connection with God. This anointment from the Holy Spirit brings forth a profound transformation of consciousness and spiritual awareness. It is a guiding force that activates the inner compass.
 
As seekers and pathfinders, questing in the world and searching for our pathway forward, we develop a passion for human suffering that can be felt as compassion. Our compassion guides us to do the next good thing. The Pentecost is a time of spiritual renewal and the sharing of our faith with others. In this time of spiritual reflection, we can home in and find ways to share our gifts within our relational networks. In this way, we experience spiritual transformation that allows us to walkthrough our narratives of suffering, empowered by our renewed compassion for humanity.
 
Compassion activates the inner compass. We can understand passion by following along the steps of Jesus Christ during Holy Week. The Biblical stories in the New Testament illustrate the events of the Passion, spanning from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday.
 
When Mary Madelaine went to Jesus’ tomb, she met a gardener that she didn’t recognize as Jesus Christ. When she stone in front of the tomb rolled open her eyes fell on the cloth, or the Holy Shroud, left inside the tomb. She then told the other Apostles of what she had witnessed, thus becoming the first witness of the resurrection. This has given her the recognition as the ‘Apostle of the Apostles’. Her example underscores the importance of witnessing. She models the spiritual practice of seeing suffering. The compassionate way is seeing, feeling, and acting upon suffering. When we witness the suffering of others, we reinforce our spiritual connection, activating our inner compass and quest orientation.
 
Knowledge can be used for the art of living when a passion for society is at the heart of the social sciences. Kleinman, a medical anthropologist and psychiatrist and Wilkerson, an epidemiologist, address suffering using the lens of the social sciences. They say, “In this book we have tried to clear a space not only for new works of sociological and anthropological imagination but also for making the pursuit of social understanding inextricably linked to care for the human, and for its value to be judged in terms of the production of humanitarian social care in action” (Kleinman & Wilkerson, 2016, p. 205).
Picture
Here is a quote from John Philip Newell’s book “The Rebirthing of God”:
https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/26855
Picture
Here is a story about the Good Samaritan that connects compassion with the courage to act:
https://www.goodsams.org.au/article/editors-pick-the-courage-of-the-good-samaritan
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019

    Author

    Author of Homing In: ​A Story Mandala Connecting Adoption, Reunion and Belonging

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Buy the Book
    • Picture Book Page
  • Blog
    • Blog Chapters
    • Newsletters
  • Contact