Compassion in an anglican light

Luke 6:36
" By the quality of our inner lives I do not mean something characterized by ferocious intensity and strain. I mean rather such a humble and genial devotedness as we find in the most loving of the saints. I mean the quality which makes contagious Christians, makes people catch the love of God from you."  Evelyn Underhill , 1875-1941, " Concerning the Inner Life".    Underhill wrote 39 books on the spiritual life and 350 articles.
" Be therefore compassionate, as also your Father is."
One commentator says of this passage, " A man ( person) who is unkind in his criticisms and unconscious of his own faults cannot help his fellow man; he is like a blind man trying to lead the blind." Luke , Charles Erdman
The greek word here for compassionate is " to have a feeling of distress of others "   Some times we do not know when or why we should be compassionate.  We should be compassionate with our own needs as well.
Nouwen said it this way, " It is important to know when we can give attention and when we need attention. Often we are inclined to give, give, and give without asking anything in return. We may think this is a sign of generosity or even heroism. But it might be little else than a proud attitude that says: ' I don't need help from others. I only want to give.' When we keep giving without receiving we burn out quickly. Only when we pay careful attention to our own physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs can we be, and remain, joyful givers."
" A little girl's prayer"  A little girl was being punished by eating alone in the corner of the dining room.  The family paid no attention to her until they heard her pray, ' I thank thee, Lord,  for preparing  a table before me in the presence of my enemies.' from sermon central illustration.
Last WED nite in our discovery of another step to living without fear by Lloyd Ogilivie we learned that " His love must heal our basic fear of ourselves. We are made in such a way that we are not truly free until we are willing to embrace ourselves as loved, cherished, and forgiven people with great potential. We need deliverance from the imprisonment we've inflicted on ourselves."   Ogilvie remembers that Lincoln said, " When I lay down the reins of this administration I want to have one friend left. And that friend is inside myself."
We started talking today about Evelyn Underhill.   She produced a string of books on contemplative prayer & felt that the contemplative life was not just for monks and nuns but for all Christians. She had a life of meditation, prayer , reading, and writing for others as well as herself.
I wish to conclude this short meditation on compassion, judging, forgiving and receiving with a quote from her:"
To go up alone into the mountains
and come back as an ambassador to the world,
has ever been the method of humanity's best friends.
The windows of Christ's mysteries split the light up into many-coloured
loveliness, disclose all its hidden richness....make its beauty more accesible
to us...and within this place we too are bathed in the light transmitted by the windows,
a light which is yet the very radiance of Eternity."