Rev. Lori on Turning Compassion Into Action
This reflection was originally published in the previous week’s Friday Flyer.
Hello Good People
Action. Political action. Cultural action, Community action. Action. I think about that word a lot lately. I am constantly wondering what my part is in the world right now. I am compassionate towards most. I am an advocate for so many. And yet I wonder what is effective for me to participate in. Where will my limited energy even make a difference. I do believe a well of compassion must overflow to satisfy need or suffering. Whatever that means. I am confessing that it all has felt disheartening to me, so much so that I have had to step away from news feeds and social media as much as possible.
The Tao Te Ching teaches us that true strength is not found in force, but in yielding—like water that nourishes all things yet does not strive. Compassion, when put into action, embodies this wisdom. It is not loud or showy, but quiet, persistent, and transformative.When we act from compassion, we do not push against the world; instead, we flow with it, meeting suffering with presence and gentleness. Laozi reminds us that “the soft overcomes the hard, the weak overcomes the strong.” Compassion is this soft power: it bridges divides, eases pain, and reshapes the world not by domination, but by care.
To turn compassion into action is to live in harmony with the Tao—it is to recognize that we are not separate, but part of the same unfolding whole. Each small act of kindness ripples outward, quietly reshaping the world, as water wears down stone. How absolutely counterintuitive to the “powers” right now. Putting our principles into action in the form of kindness, persistence, honoring one another where we are at, honoring the world and the interdependence of all things; these are the soft powers. These are our powers. Our superpowers actually. It is the power that creates grand canyons. It is the life force that turns compassion into action.
Two sentences from a passage that stuck with me are:" influence is shaped by gravity, not grasp". And, "greatness follows depth not height.” It is not the tallest, or loudest, or most powerful that will shape or change the world. It is the most persistent, consistent, committed, and principled. I invite you to spend some time with those words.
Persistent
Consistent
Committed
Principled
Bring to mind each word individually. Write out a sentence for each one that addresses your life personally right now. How do these ideas integrate with your faith journey? Where do you persist and what gives you the strength to do so? Where is the soft but strong sense of consistency present for you? What are absolutely committed to? How do your principles keep you grounded in all of this right now?
Rev Lori Whittemore
(she, her, hers)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Saco Biddeford