Clearly, the prison hospital and long-term care facility had not been updated. The professional nursing staff in both facilities were friendly and informative. As I went from room to room in the hospital visiting patients, I saw something I wasn’t expecting. Incarcerated men were providing care by filling water cups, making sure patients were comfortable, or simply sitting with them. Several of the patients appeared to be in their final days here on earth. Later, I was told that multiple incarcerated caregivers had been hospice trained.
In the late afternoon, as I waited for the church service to begin in the long-term care facility, a young man in a wheelchair pulled up next to me. Friendly and talkative, he told me he was paralyzed from the chest down and shared details about the extensive—and sometimes deeply personal—care he needed. He pointed to the incarcerated ministry leader who was setting up for the service and said, “He’s my savior.” He explained that no matter how messy his care was, or if he needed to wake him during the night for help, he was always there for him.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).
In Mark 5:21–34, we see a crowd pressing against Jesus as He goes to heal a dying girl. Among them was a woman who had endured years of suffering. With nowhere else to turn, she quietly touched His cloak as He passed by. When Jesus asked who touched Him, she trembled and confessed it was her. Lovingly, He called her “Daughter” and told her that her faith had healed her. It was Jesus’ compassion for those who were suffering that brought healing to both the woman and the dying girl.
Compassion is noticing someone who is hurting and taking the time to care for them (Galatians 6:2). Jesus saw the woman no one else noticed and spoke to her with kindness and love. Compassion can be shown through simple acts that bring comfort to others.
Think about a time when someone showed you kindness and compassion—how it made a difference for you and what you took away from that experience. Maybe it was a comforting word, someone simply being there, or a prayer when you didn’t know what to say. Encourage others to reflect on this too: Who around me might need to be noticed or heard today, and how can I show them that I care?
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).
Later in the day, I was told that the ministry leader who cared for the man in the wheelchair had started a white supremacy gang when he first arrived at the prison. I would love to hear the fuller story, but that was no longer the man standing before me. Caring compassion can sometimes be hard to find, yet I found it in a prison, among those caring for the sick and dying. Every day, Jesus continues to show me how He uses those we would least expect to be His reflection on earth.
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