Re: Wisdom LO975

Gerry Starnes (gstarnes@pegasus.tha.org)
Thu, 27 Apr 1995 18:22:46 -0500

Replying to LO957 --

Sean writes regarding "compassion" and "sympathy":

>This doesn't click with me. Perhaps I am just fixated on words, but I'm
>sure I'm not alone. I feel it is really important that we can
>communicate clearly and it worries me when it seems that a new or
>different meaning is being applied to a work. So I studied a thesaurus
>and a couple dictionaries on these words, and while I can see where Paul
>could develop his point of view, I don't think that such a clear
>distinction between "sympathy" and "compassion" is commonplace.

(( snip))

>Which doesn't mean I disagree with the point Paul is making. That quote
>from a chinese general about "to know, and not act, is to not know" (I
>hope I got it right) seems to apply here. Perhaps there is a better word
>than "compassion" for what Paul describes. I'd suggest "charity." Unless
>someone has a better choice...

Unfortunately, it seems we are in the midst of what I was hoping to
express should be avoided. We are dividing the concept into details, which
in the end becomes a relatively "trivializing" enterprise. (Please
understand that I am not saying that the comments and observations are
trivial, but that down this path lies a point at which we all wonder where
we started and why we went this way in the first place.)

IMHO, what is important is the concept, expressed in other posts, that a
systemic approach *implies and necessitates* a wholistic view of issues,
rather than a reductionist view. We should try to avoid dissecting.

gerry starnes
gstarnes@pegasus.tha.org
(new address: I am moving my mail.)