Why should we have compassion on refugees?

       Our mothers, Sylvia Stuckrath, and Pat Gottschalk, who taught us compassion for refugees

To those who feel empathy towards refugees the question seems perhaps even ridiculous. They usually answer with something like: “But they have been driven from their homes by war!” which may well be the case.

Many people Christian or not feel compassion towards refugees. Seeing the destruction of whole cities, like Aleppo, Syria after the Russian bombing creates compassion, just as pictures of bombarded cities in World War II created compassion.

There is a fellow feeling which comes from imagining ourselves in someone else’s place. However, for some of us we cannot imagine ourselves in a refugee’s place. We live in comfortable suburbs in “civilized” towns in democratic countries. Unless someone has served in the military or lived through the destruction of a hurricane, it is hard to imagine what it means to lose everything you own.

Learning compassion starts in childhood. How we deal with others teaches our children what is important to us.

When my wife and I were teens our church youth group sponsored a Vietnamese family, who fled the fall of Saigon, South Vietnam. In fact, I think our mothers did most or a lot of the work. My wife’s mother had been the church secretary before my mother took the job. So, both of our mothers knew everyone in our church. They also were just compassionate people.

The Vietnamese family lived in a house, an old parsonage, the church owned. Our mothers spent a lot of time with this family, teaching the mother English, helping the children get into local schools, getting clothing for the winter (Pennsylvania was very cold to Vietnamese people), help them to learn to shop, to use the public transit and many other things.

Our mothers taught us compassion by their example. It wasn’t a big sermon or a long tirade. Their example was in words, yes, but in deeds of kindness.

For decades later, the mother and children of that family reported to my mother-in-law and mother their experiences. They were always grateful for Mrs. Sylvia and Mrs. Patricia.