Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

Epiphany 5 – Year B

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

How wide a net do you need to join in healing the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds?

What resources and power do you need beyond what you already have to lift up the downtrodden, to cast the wicked to the ground?

How wide and how deep our experience of and participation in compassion are questions that are continually before us. They can get us down when we measure ourselves against compassion professionals or continually see the more that needs to be done. They are also questions that can be approached from a perspective based on how far we have come. Whether from a view of a glass half-empty or half-full, we can avoid denigrating or aggrandizing our part by joining in a company of outcasts who take pleasure in every success and are borne through every wearying worry.

The network of fingers at the end of your arm, the hook at the end of your prosthesis is a wide-enough arc for your compassion.

The energy you have is sufficient for your opportunities.

Hallelujah!