Daily Devotion - Monday, October 25

Constant Call for Compassionate Care

God gave us two ears but only one mouth.
Some people say that’s because He wanted us to spend
twice as much time listening as talking.
Others claim it’s because He knew that listening was twice as hard.
--Unknown

During the past five plus years I've been growing in a new responsibility or opportunity. It is really something I've been doing for most of my adult life; these last few years the focus has changed. Now I am dedicated to the specific challenge of compassionately caring for GRANDchildren.

We hear the constant call for compassionate care for all the GRAND children of our global village. Sometimes we do a good job, sometimes we need to polish our skills. Responding to this task can wear on us. Compassionate care for children begins when we actively listen to their heartsongs. Our creator knows how to listen and how hard listening really is. I personally believe that God would much rather we cry with one another and say “it hurts!” than for us to proclaim we are OK when we really are hurting!

Can we commit ourselves to this really difficult task — listening to children. A child comes to us crying, “It hurts!” No external wound, but “it hurts.” They may not be able to have anything more definitive than that. Compassionate care calls us to listen to those two simple words, to hear the cry of their hurting heart and then to provide the therapeutic touch. The cries are becoming more intense! Are you ready to listen and respond? God be with us in our listening and in our responding.

--Ben Keckler
10.25.10