“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” -Romans 12:15
One of the greatest blessings of my position at Riverview is the opportunity to always be in front of people. People who have real lives, real needs, real sorrows and real joys. Not just the privilege of meeting people, but being able to meet them “where they are” in there moments of need, sorrow or joy.
I was taught a very valuable lesson about compassion years ago when I was just a young Pastor. It was on a Sunday morning and an elderly woman in our congregation stood up to testify. She had been a faithful member of our church for many years, but for the past few years her ability to hear had greatly diminished. As she stood up, she told this story… “I’ve been coming to this church for a long time, but now I’ve lost my hearing. My own daughter even asked me why I still come. I can’t hear anything that goes on during the service, but I’ve figured out how to deal with this. I’ll just watch everybody else. When they shout, I’ll shout! When they cry, I’ll cry!”Yes, that day I learned a valuable lesson about life. We should always have compassion on one another, in so much that we are able to rejoice in each other’s joys and weep in each other’s sorrows. LORD, give us a heart of compassion!!!
-PHILLIP RAMEY, Director of Spirituality – Riverview HealthCARE