Matthew Fox: Compassion Is Needed Not Just For Our Generosity But For Our Very Survival

As a member of the Virginia Relief Sale's Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) Committee raising money for refugee relief, I was moved by the following Matthew Fox quote in Richard Rohr's daily meditation for Sunday:

Compassion is everywhere. Compassion is the world’s richest energy source. Now that the world is a global village we need compassion more than ever—not for altruism’s sake, nor for philosophy’s sake or theology’s sake, but for survival’s sake.

And yet, in human history of late, compassion remains an energy source that goes largely unexplored, untapped and unwanted. Compassion appears very far away and almost in exile. Whatever propensities the human cave dweller once had for violence instead of compassion seem to have increased geometrically with the onslaught of industrial society. The exile of compassion is evident everywhere. 

In acquiescing in compassion’s exile, we are surrendering the fullness of nature and of human nature, for we, like all creatures in the cosmos, are compassionate creatures. All persons are compassionate at least potentially. What we all share today is that we are victims of compassion’s exile. The difference between persons and groups of persons is not that some are victims and some are not: we are all victims and all dying from lack of compassion; we are all surrendering our humanity together.

Matthew Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice (Inner Traditions: 1999), xi, xii

The Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) Committee of the October 1-2 Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale is again raising gifts of cash, checks and by credit card for Mennonite Central Committee's work with refugees around the world, Through some generous early giving by check and online, over $20,000 has already come in for this fund and the staff at Everence Financial will have a special tent set up at the Fairgrounds to receive contributions at the Sale this Saturday.

Those unable to attend in person can give online at https://vareliefsale.com/donate/ or write a check to Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale (with SOS on the memo line) and send it to Relief Sale, 601 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802.

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