Compassion in Agony: Finding Room for Others While Carrying Your Own Pain

A Morungexpress editorial published this week challenges believers to examine how they treat others during times of personal suffering. The reflection, titled “Compassion When In Agony..!”, uses the biblical figures of Paul, Onesimus, and Jesus to argue that true faith is revealed not in worship but in compassion under duress.

The piece recounts how Paul, while imprisoned, asked Philemon to welcome the runaway slave Onesimus as a brother and offered to cover any debts: “Charge it to me.” It also cites Jesus on the cross promising paradise to a condemned man. The author contrasts these examples with the common tendency to snap at loved ones when in pain, noting that “the person helping us is not the enemy.”

The editorial concludes by urging readers to make room for compassion even in distress, asking, “Can we make room for compassion while carrying our pain?” It also includes an invitation to an eight-session Writers and Speakers Course, with contact details for interested participants.