Err on the side of Compassion

Erring on the side of Compassion

2/17/2016

(Katie Gauger)

A well-seasoned Bishop was in a quandary on an issue he had with regard to members in his ward.  He met with his Stake President and asked this question.  How do I know if what we have done is enough, too much, or on the other end of the spectrum, too little? Just how much service is enough? 

The very wise and humble Stake President looked into the Bishops eyes, and said, “Bishop, I would err on the side of compassion.”  That was all the council he gave, and actually that was more than enough.

There are times in our lives as Visiting Teachers when we too wonder how much is enough, with regard to the service we give as sisters.  Have we gone overboard, and worn ourselves out, wondering if you can keep up the standard you have set for yourself?  Have we looked away and thought that someone else will pick up our slack, because we simply can’t do it with everything we have going on in our own busy lives? Maybe are we more concerned that we have not done enough, and should be doing more, or at least doing something?

Everyone at one time of another, goes through this self-evaluation process , monitoring our own progression in all aspects of our life.  It is a good thing and helps us to remember why God sent us on this earth, in this imperfect state. We are working out our own salvation, and with each little step forward, we become that much closer to Him. A word of caution would be that we need not be so hard on ourselves, if we aren’t there yet or are struggling just to keep afloat some days.  Sometimes life and responsibilities are just plain too hard, but, the key to remember is that if we are moving forward, not backwards, that is exactly where Heavenly Father wants us to be.

With all the commitments we make in life, how can we commit ourselves to do Visiting Teaching?  How can we know if we are doing what we need to, as a Visiting Teacher?  Getting back to the quote from the Stake President I mentioned earlier …. When a question arises like… It’s the end of the month, and I haven’t done my Visiting Teaching and I don’t have any time to squeeze it in… should I just not go?  Think of the quote: “Err on the side of compassion,” and I believe that you will know exactly what to do, how to do it, and end up feeling good about your solution.  When we do, we don’t have to go back and look at ourselves, feel guilty, feel bad for not doing anything or more, because we did what we could compassionately.  We did what the Savior would have done and did when he was on the earth.  Jesus always erred on the side of compassion, throughout His entire ministry. I am pretty sure when He was busy helping someone in one town, and about doing His Fathers work, it wasn’t always convenient for Him.  Jesus had people stopping him in the streets, needing his help and what did he do?  Jesus Christ erred on the side of compassion.  I would bet he didn’t think about how inconvenient it was to walk many more miles in sandaled feet, on dusty unpaved roads to heal the sick, feed the 5,000 or cleanse the lepers.  Jesus simply erred on the side of compassion.

In the March 1997 Ensign,  there is an article or story under the heading, “Feeding His Sheep.” The story is called “Reaching out with love. ” Beginning with the 8^th paragraph, it tells about how after a woman’s family had moved to England, tragedy struck.  The author tells about the drowning accident of her own 11 month old son. She was grief stricken beyond description and was in a state of shock. The story proceeds, with phone calls and visits from her Visiting Teacher, Joan Davis.  

Every day Joan would ride her bike up a hill to a payphone booth, because she didn’t have a phone of her own, and call this woman.  If her voice sounded despondent, Joan would ride her bike another 5 hilly miles to her home and spend her day cooking, cleaning, and tending the children of the grief stricken woman.  These visits went on for months. It wasn’t until months later, that this woman realized the sacrifice that Joan Davis had made for her, and in spite of Joan’s own personal heartaches and sacrifices, she reached out with love for her. What a wonderful example of erring on the side of compassion!

The second great commandment that God gave to all of us is to love our neighbor, and it is my prayer that we can do so, in the best way that we can for all those who are in need of our service.  I firmly believe that what we do for others, the Lord is mindful of, and accepts our service, how much or how little we can give, with gratitude and love.  May we be mindful of erring on the side of compassion as we serve those we Visit teach.