The Law of the Circle: Leading with Compassion in a Chaotic World

The ‘law of the circle’ states that whenever we harm rather than help others, the same energy we used to cause harm returns to us, seeking resolution.

In Jeremiah 23:1-6, the Lord addresses the leadership of Israel and predicts disaster upon them because they harmed, oppressed, and abused their constituents, resulting in the people being scattered. The Lord promises to punish the leadership for the evil they have done. Because of their inability to care for the Israelites, the law of the circle is catching up with them. The same energy they used to harm others is returning to them, seeking resolution.

1. It must be noted that oppression and abuse harm not only the oppressed and abused but equally the oppressor and abuser. The Igbos of Nigeria express this belief in their proverbs:

“He who holds someone to the ground also holds himself. As the rain beats the slaves, so also the slave driver. A child that denies his mother sleep also denies himself sleep. A person who mans the door to the banquet hall to ensure certain people do not join the feast will not be able to join the feast until he stops manning the door.”

History shows that the oppressed very quickly learn the ways of the oppressor. Abused people quickly learn abusive ways. Even when liberated from the abusive situation, they often relate to others abusively, becoming the abusers themselves.

All of us are leaders in one way or another. Whenever something is entrusted to your care, whenever you are responsible for a group of people, or whenever you become a caregiver, remember you are a leader. Your actions can harm and cause destruction to those following you and to yourself.

2. Do not burn yourself out because exhausted emotions will give you false signals and incapacitate you from functioning at optimum levels.

When we feel tired, we need to rest. We must accept our human limitations. We are not gods. As humans, we need to withdraw from our worldly concerns occasionally, recharge, and then return. To do otherwise is folly. To do otherwise is to play God, which we are not. Slow down; you are moving too fast. Slow down; you are going too far. Some of us get so caught up in the rat race that we begin to live like rats. The world has been around for a long time, and you will die and leave it behind, so why are you racing? The Lord reminds us in Mark 6:31b that life is precious. If you are burned out, take a holiday, a retreat, rest and cool off, re-create yourself, and then resume normal activities.

3. Begin with compassion rather than judgment.

Nothing is more important to God than compassion. Compassion is at the very heart of the Gospel. Jesus shows this in our gospel selection. Though he is tired and wants to get away from everyone, when he sees the vast crowd, he has compassion for them. In his full humanity, he knows their need, their poverty, and their confusion. So, he puts his agenda aside and ministers to them (Mark 6:30-34). Compassion is not simply a feeling; it is a way of looking at life, and it factors into the choices we make each day. Each day we face several choices where we need to decide between judgment and compassion. We look at the people we live with and the people we love. We know their faults and neuroses. We know what is wrong with them. We need to choose whether we are going to judge them because they are not the people we would like them to be or have compassion for them. We, too, have shortcomings and failures.

Jesus could have begun with judgment, but he began with compassion. We must do the same. How do we take our first step of compassion? There is a saying that has been around in the Christian tradition for a long time. It is not in the Bible, but we have all heard it. It is used when we face someone in need: “If not for the grace of God.” If we approached every person in need with that saying in mind, we would always be people of compassion. We would realize that our lives could be different. What if we had different parents? What if we were born in another country? What if we were not as talented? What if we had genetic or health issues? We could easily find ourselves among the poor, the unemployed, the uneducated, and the wounded. When we understand that any person in need could be us, we approach that person with compassion.

The challenge from the above Gospel text is to let compassion be a part of the choices we make every day.