Pity

“Great changes occur continually in every aspect of our lives – physical, social, and spiritual. Most are beyond our control, for they begin and end with God. The first task of a servant of Christ is to “look unto the Lord our God, until He take pity on us” (Ps 122:2). We are to discern what God wills and how He is calling us to act. Such watchfulness must be continual. Otherwise, the heart may be wounded and our birth in the new life in Christ will be disrupted, injured, or possibly stillborn.” (Dynamis 3/9/2018)

“Remember what man is. He is the image of God, a child of God, a Christian, an inheritor of the Kingdom, a member of Christ. We must therefore esteem every man, although he may bear in his soul the wounds of sins. The wounds - are wounds; they are made by the Devil and sin, but still the image is the image of God. We must pity him for his wounds, grieve, pray for him as for ourselves: for we are all - one body.” (St. John of Krondstat)

“Pity reflects God but self-pity does not…Self-pity is consumed with its own comforts and constantly asks: Why is this happening to me?...God the Word condescended to become one of us, suffer and die for us, only to rise again and offer us salvation because He loves and pities us to the point of doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. When we pity another person to the point of trying to help them with no other motive than simply that, to help them, we are bringing Christ to them as best we can.” (Sacramental Living Blog, Susie Larson)

“Let my life today be the channel through which some little portion of Your divine love and pity may reach the lives that are nearest to my own.” (John Baillie)

“Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart…learn pity, and endurance in hope.” (J.R.R. Tolkien)

#Dynamis #StJohnofKrondstadt #SacramentalLivingBlog #SusieLarson #JohnBaillie #JRRTolkien