One of my mentors when I was in seminary, during a discussion of the ins and outs of pastoral counseling, said that there are only four basic human emotions, and the first step in helping someone to get through a crisis is to identify which one they are feeling. "Are you mostly sad, mad, glad or scared right now?" he would ask. Once we know what we are feeling, then we can usually figure out why we are feeling it, and then perhaps we can work towards a solution of any problem which arose. This observation - made long before the days of i-phones with "emojis" to help us identify our feelings - has seemed to be both true and helpful. If I can ask myself "Sad, mad, glad or scared?" and "OK - why?" then I usually have some idea of my spiritual condition and what to do about it, or at least how to pray about it.

Recently, though, I've modified my opinion a bit:  there is, at least in God and in maturing Christians, a fifth basic emotion: compassion - overwhelming, outgoing love. I think it is the natural state we were meant to operate from, just as God does, but now is quite hard to maintain due to the infection of sin.

We've seen the power of compassion in the scripture readings of the last few Sundays:

Two Sundays ago we contemplated the compassion of the Roman Centurion for his sick slave to which Jesus gladly responded, and also King Solomon's compassionate prayer for the foreigners who did not yet know the compassion of the God of Israel. 

Last Sunday we admired the compassion of Jesus and the prophet Elijah, who were moved by compassion for grieving widows to raise the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Next Sunday we will admire the compassion towards Jesus of a woman who crashes a dinner party to throw herself at his feet, and the compassion of Jesus towards her in sincere but (allegedly) socially inappropriate behavior. These scriptures will, hopefully, prompt me to ask myself "Sad, mad, glad, scared, or compassionate?" Let us pray for the gift of compassion, that compassion become the dominant motivation in our lives, and that we thus become fully alive in the image and likeness of God.