Do You Practice Compassion?

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

The phone rang in a high society Boston home. A son who'd just returned from Vietnam was calling from California. His parents were the cocktail-circuit, party kind. The boy said, "I just called to tell you that I want to bring a buddy home with me." His mother said, "Sure,bring him along for a few days." "But mother, there's something you need to know about him. One leg's gone, one arm's gone, one eye's gone, and his face is disfigured." His mother said, "It's okay, bring him home for a few days anyway." The son said, "You don't understand, I want to bring him home to live with us." After a long pause the mother began to make excuses, "What would people think? How could we take care of him, given our busy lives?" And the phone clicked. A few hours later the California Police Department called. Again the mother picked up the phone; a voice said, "We have found a boy with one arm, one leg, one eye and a mangled face. He just committed suicide. His identification papers say he's your son." Showing compassion demands dying to self-interest. It disrupts our well-ordered lives. It costs us money we planned to use for other things. It calls for time, often years of care giving, when we feel like we've hardly enough time for ourselves.
What is compassion?
Laying down your life for others!
That's why Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
Do you practice compassion?