Compassion Fatigue

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -Galatians 6:9

"Police say they've found DNA evidence connecting the suspect to a woman who gave birth in a vegetative state."
"The brutal truth behind the shutdown."
"Iowa's 'fetal heartbeat' abortion restriction declared unconstitutional."
"Opinion: Why Gillette's ad slamming toxic masculinity is drawing cheers -- and anger."
"Dozens of children get cancer in suburb."

These are just a few random articles I found under the CNN website today. CNN isn't unique. Most news outlets will sound just the same. Maybe they'll have a slightly different perspective, a lean into another direction, but in the end, it's mostly bad news 24/7. Do you recall any other time in known history when world-wide news was so immediately accessible, each event written of in hundreds of articles the moment it happens? We can listen on the radio, watch it on TV, on the internet, tune into a news podcast, enter a news chatroom, watch tweets and Snaps and Facebook links pop up like flies on a corpse. Bad news gets more attention and therefore more coverage.

However, there's many downsides to this instant and constant melodrama, one of which is compassion fatigue or vicarious traumatization.

This is the "indifference to charitable appeals on behalf of those who are suffering, experienced as a result of the frequency or number of such appeals." (dictionary.com)

Every time we hear or see bad news, we naturally rise up internally to the cause, feeling compassion, sympathy, and possibly a drive to help. However, once it becomes an all day, every day thing, we can become apathetic, exhausted by the constant pleas, and feel hopeless in being able to do anything. This is in direct opposition to what God desires but so is the constant diet of bad news.

You are not God. You are incapable of helping everyone and championing every cause. So, it seems illogical to subject yourself to a daily dose of what's wrong with the world.

There's nothing wrong in being informed, but what that meant just 50 years ago versus now is a completely different picture. Speaking of the 60's, there were two modes of news, well three if you count word of mouth, the daily newspaper and TV news (only on at certain times of the day). You had to go out of your way to find out the goings on of the world.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. - Philippians 4:7-8

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

There's a very prominent Biblical figure who took on too many of others' problems. Here's what he was told.

When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” -Exodus 18:14-23

You may be called to be caregivers, messengers, and disciples, but you can't do it all. If you are particularly moved to help someone or a cause, that is God moving through you. A lack of compassion or feeling when you see the evening news is a sign you need to see less of it. You can help your next door neighbor with groceries, you can lift up a stranger in need, you can support the education of a child in Nicaragua, or save the life of a family in China --- but you can't save the world. Let God do that, and He'll tell you where you're needed. Even Mother Teresa wrote to her superiors about the need for nuns to take an entire year off from their duties every 4-5 years to allow them to heal from care-giving work; self-care is essential. (Psst: Check out my past posts on the Sabbath).

Learn about the bigger matters of the world or your community and then shut the news off, unsubscribe to the news on Facebook, and preserve your sanity and sympathy so it's there when God calls on you to spread love to the world.

Love news but want to find out about the many happy and uplifting things that are happening world-wide? Here's some places to start:

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
https://www.ted.com/#/
http://gimundo.com/
https://www.happynews.com/
https://www.today.com/news/good-news
http://www.dailygood.org/
https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news


Sources other than Bible:
http://www.compassionfatigue.org/
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/01/health/bad-news-bad-health/index.html
https://www.thecut.com/2014/08/what-all-this-bad-news-is-doing-to-us.html
https://www.complex.com/life/2015/08/the-apathy-generation
https://www.stress.org/military/for-practitionersleaders/compassion-fatigue/