Day 15: Transitioning to Compassion

Today is Day 15, which is 2 weeks and one day of the Omer . . . . . . Ha-yom chamishah asar yom, she-hem shnei sh'vuot v'yom echad la-omer.

This week we move from the judgment and commitment of discipline to a somewhat opposite perspective - compassion, tiferet.  To have compassion for someone else actually requires us to suspend our judgment, to leave that to others.  The Spiritual Guide to the Omer mentions that compassion is a blending of the harmony of chesed, loving-kindness, with the discipline of gevurah, making it the next logical step in our journey.

THE OMER INTERSECTION: Tiferet + Chesed;  Compassion Converging with Loving-kindness

We start out with a bit of a softball, so to speak.  It is hard to imagine compassion without chesed, love.  And I'm starting to notice a trend in this system - the starting point of each of our values will be love.  It is a reminder that the ideal reasons we commit ourselves to any of these other values comes from the Huey Lewis sponsored power of love.
Love is the obvious starting point, middle point and ending point of compassion.  The struggle, the challenge to harmony, that emerges from the convergence of these values, I suppose, is to be vigilant of when our compassion does not come from love.  Have we ever taken someone else's side of an argument just because we were angry with a third party?  Have we overtly shown compassion to another because we have something to gain for ourselves?  

THE OMER CHALLENGE: 

So, how do we apply this idea?  Despite the reflection above, I am looking forward to partaking in the challenge from the Spiritual Guide to the Omer.  It compels us to ask the following questions: Ask yourself: Is my compassion tender and loving or does it come across as pity? Is my sympathy condescending and patronizing? Even if my intention is otherwise, do others perceive it as such? Does my compassion overflow with love and warmth; is it expressed with enthusiasm, or is it static and lifeless?
Applying these thoughts to our everyday lives, such questions challenge us to bring genuineness (I don't think that is a real word - I stand corrected, it is in the dictionary) to our expressions of compassion.  To truly let our heart sit with the other, and be true to the other and to the emotions of love that we are feeling.  

So, how would we apply this in specific, measurable actions?  Let us go a bit above and beyond in expressing love to another in one of the relationships that are easy for us to take for granted.  Make time to express our compassion.  Let us be genuinely caring with our family; let us be active, alert, giving listeners to the personal saga of our co-workers; let us actually wait for and listen to the response to our question, "How are you today?" when we ask it.    

OMER REFLECTION:
This is another one in which I have failed to complete the challenge I set out for myself - thought it is not too late to follow through.  My New Year's list is at home, and we started the day in DC.  So, it was a bit tough to fully analyze my goals and assess/adjust/tinker towards a better state.  But now that we're back in Raleigh, I hope to follow-through with this one, even if I do it on another night of the omer.