Busyness: the enemy of compassion

Not long ago, I was in Singapore, on my way to meet my friend Joshua.

I was excited — we hadn’t seen each other in a while. So I found myself brisk walking toward the train station where we were supposed to catch up.

But in the middle of my rush, I saw something in the corner of my eye that made me stop in my tracks.

There on the pavement was a small baby bird.

It was breathing shallowly, its tiny chest rising and falling with great effort.

It was dying.

I bent down, carefully picked it up with both hands, and cradled it gently.

I didn’t know what to do. I asked a few passerbys if they could help — maybe they had experience with animals. Most of them said they were in a hurry.

Feeling lost and helpless, I ended up calling wildlife rescue.

So there I was — sitting on the side of the road with a dying bird in my hands.

As I sat there, person after person walked past me, continuing with their day.

I started crying over the bird.

I couldn’t save the bird’s life. But I could be there for it. I could keep it warm.

I could make sure it didn’t die alone.

And I was reminded of the parable Jesus told in Luke 10 — the parable of the Good Samaritan.

I learned that day that compassion often asks us to pause, to be delayed and to step into someone else's pain.