{"id":39837,"date":"2024-12-07T10:12:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T18:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39837"},"modified":"2024-12-07T10:12:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T18:12:25","slug":"from-rome-to-now-compassions-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/from-rome-to-now-compassions-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"From Rome to Now: Compassion\u2019s Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

For two years, I didn\u2019t have a home. Not in the figurative “I\u2019m searching for where I belong” sense, but in the very real, very cold “I have no idea where I\u2019ll sleep tonight” sense. I became an expert at overstaying my welcome on friends\u2019 couches, right up until the moment I could feel the tension rising. I befriended a security guard who turned a blind eye to me sleeping in a building lounge. On nights I couldn\u2019t find anywhere else, I braved public shelters\u2014grim places that often felt less safe than the streets themselves. In the winter, I took overnight jobs just to have a warm space to be, catching sleep on my breaks. And there were plenty of days when the only question on my mind was, When will I eat again?<\/em><\/p>\n

That time in my life was as humbling as it was shaping. It didn\u2019t just teach me survival; it rewired how I see homelessness, hunger, and community. It taught me that for people living on the edge, charity isn\u2019t a nice gesture\u2014it\u2019s a lifeline.<\/p>\n

What struck me, looking back, was how often people would talk about homelessness or hunger as if it were a math problem with an easy solution. “Just get a job,” they\u2019d say, as if finding work when you have no address, no clean clothes, and no way to shower is the simplest thing in the world. Or worse: “Why don\u2019t they just go to a shelter?” Anyone who has actually been in one knows that shelters are often overcrowded, chaotic, and dangerous. For many, staying outside feels safer.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to Dominion<\/em>, Tom Holland\u2019s exploration of how Christianity reshaped the world\u2019s values. Reading it, I couldn\u2019t help but think about those two years. Holland argues that concepts like compassion for the poor, caring for the weak, and valuing every human life weren\u2019t always part of the cultural fabric. In ancient Rome, the idea that the powerless deserved dignity would\u2019ve been laughable. But then, along came this revolutionary idea\u2014that every person is made in the image of God, and therefore every life has value.<\/p>\n

When I was homeless, I experienced firsthand what happens when society forgets that. But I also saw glimpses of its power. The security guard who let me sleep in the lounge? He didn\u2019t have to do that. He could\u2019ve just done his job, but he chose to see me as a person, not a problem. That act of compassion, as small as it might seem, was life-changing in the moment.<\/p>\n

What Holland reminds us is that in ancient Rome, acts of compassion were often considered a weakness, not a virtue. The Roman world admired power, strength, and self-sufficiency\u2014qualities that left little room for caring for the poor or the sick. Charity wasn\u2019t institutionalized; it was seen as a personal obligation, and often only extended within one\u2019s social circle. The idea of elevating the marginalized or helping the destitute would\u2019ve seemed, at best, impractical, and at worst, foolish.<\/p>\n

Yet Christianity introduced a radical new perspective. It didn\u2019t just pity the vulnerable\u2014it valued them. Early Christians preached that the weak, the sick, and even the outcasts were worthy of love and dignity. This revolutionary thinking transformed the way society viewed the powerless, planting the seeds for the values we carry today. What was once a strange and subversive belief grew into the foundation of how we think about justice and care for others.<\/p>\n

Holland\u2019s book is a reminder that these values didn\u2019t evolve naturally; they were hard-fought, countercultural ideas that grew out of a revolutionary worldview. And it\u2019s on us to carry those forward\u2014not just because they\u2019re morally good, but because they work. They change lives.<\/p>\n

Compassion, after all, isn\u2019t about grand gestures or saving the world in one sweeping action. It\u2019s about the choices we make every day\u2014choices that ripple out in ways we might never see. The security guard probably doesn\u2019t know the impact he had on me, but I\u2019ll never forget it. Whether it\u2019s the simple act of acknowledging someone\u2019s humanity or supporting causes that care for the vulnerable, our actions carry weight.<\/p>\n

So, if there\u2019s one takeaway from all this, it\u2019s this: Compassion isn\u2019t a trend, and dignity isn\u2019t optional. Whether you\u2019re religious or not, the call to care for others isn\u2019t just some old-fashioned idea\u2014it\u2019s a foundation that holds us all up. And if you\u2019re ever in doubt about whether your small act of kindness matters, trust me\u2014it does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For two years, I didn\u2019t have a home. Not in the figurative “I\u2019m searching for where I belong” sense, but in the very real, very cold “I have no idea where I\u2019ll sleep tonight” sense. I became an expert at overstaying my welcome on friends\u2019 couches, right up until the moment I could feel the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,2627],"class_list":["post-39837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-holland","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39838,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39837\/revisions\/39838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}