theology – anthroposophy – world

Among the qualities in the soul which can become basic characteristics of the life-body there are two which have great significance in the encounter with pain and evil. They are courage and compassion; and for long ages Spirits of Movement have fostered them in man. It is not difficult to see how man is ennobled by these qualities; but it is not always understood that they could not arise in him, were pain not present in the world. We need courage to face pain, and compassion to share in the pain of others. And a still greater courage is wanted in order to meet the presence and activity of evil in the right way.
Courage and compassion both run counter to man’s natural and indeed necessary inclinations. We want to avoid pain; were this not so, pain would be ineffective as a warning about harm that threatens our bodies. But courage accepts the likelihood of pain, for the sake of a purpose that is to be achieved. And compassion impels us to share sufferings which it would be possible to avoid. It is natural too for man to wish for a world in which evil was not present. But his service of great purposes would have less meaning, if he did not have to meet enemies on the way. He need not hate these enemies; to them too compassion can extend, when we begin to recognize the origin of evil in suffering, and that to live in evil is a kind of suffering too For evil is obsession, which means a state of siege. The soul may find, for instance, that impulses of jealousy assail it from every side, and that it is unable to move on into any other mood. Hatred for another person can infect all our seeing, all our doing. It is easy to blame someone who is caught in such feelings. But it is much more useful to have compassion for him.

From “Our Spiritual Companions” by Adam Bittleston