Compassion

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The lyrics of the song ‘You’ve got the love’ by Florence and the Machine go as follows:
Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air,
I know I can count on you.
Sometimes I feel like saying ‘Lord I just don't care,’
but you've got the love I need to see me through.
Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough,
and things go wrong no matter what I do.
Now and then it seems that life is just too much,
but you've got the love I need to see me through.
When food is gone you are my daily meal,
when friends are gone I know my saviour's love is real
You know it's real….
The Psalmist writes that 'The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.' This compassion and unfailing love of the Lord that is spoken of by the Psalmist can also be found within each of the four Gospel accounts of Jesus feeding the 5000.
Mark wrote that on one occasion Jesus and his disciples got into a boat to go to find a quiet place, where they could be alone, and rest for a while. But, many people who recognised them as they were getting into the boat ran along the shore ahead of them. He goes on to describe how Jesus saw the crowd that had gathered and as he stepped out of the boat he had compassion for them.
Mark describes how they appeared to be like sheep without a shepherd, and whilst we have already been invited this week to reflect upon the goodness of God through the imagery of the shepherd contained within Psalm 23, we are once again invited to picture the Lord in the role of a shepherd who cares for the sheep.
Furthermore, while feeding 5000 people reveals, in a powerful way, something of the true identity of Jesus, it would be remiss, in light of his plan to spend some time alone with his disciples, and to have an opportunity to get some rest, not to notice and/or reflect upon his reaction to the crowd as he stepped out of the boat.
The Apostle Peter writes ‘Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.’ As we enter into another period of lockdown may you find consolation for any worries and cares you may have as you reflect upon the images and words shared in this post today.
(Psalm 145 v 8, Mark 6 v 30-44 and 1 Peter 5 v 7)

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