“The Flow that Pushes you”: Christocentric Reflections on the Compassion Expressed by African American Youths in Chicago Suffering Profound Disadvantage

Youth beset by community violence, racism, and deep poverty experience profound suffering, and it is important to learn about their strengths to support them. To that end, we asked African American youths in Chicago what made social services provided to them by the Empowering Counseling Program meaningful to them. Their responses focused on the giving and receiving of compassion. To illuminate these youths’ experiences, this study examines their understandings of compassion in light of scriptural references to compassion. In the Old Testament, compassion is a passionate, personal force and an essential virtue. Yahweh self-defines as the compassionate and merciful one. In the New Testament, compassion is the English translation of three different Greek words: splagchnizomai, eleos, and agape. Splagchnizomai signifies an inner experience of Jesus that compels him to heal, teach, and nourish people. Eleos refers to acts of mercy, a response to human sinfulness exemplified by Jesus’ forgiveness, and is a capacity his followers must fulfill. Agape refers to God’s nature, represented in Jesus, and is a potential in all persons. Themes that the scriptural references and the youths’ data have in common are highlighted. In the narratives of both the youths and Scripture, compassionate responses address suffering and alienation with consolation, forgiveness, care, healing, and reconnection. Acts of compassion are to be extended to strangers as well as to friends and family and should always include respect for the autonomy and choices of others. Both the youths and Scripture regard compassion as a transforming liberation from stigma, social oppression, and terror, a life-giving process that brings hope and joy, and a commitment that endures across relationships and time.