Compassion is a Verb

There are probably half-a-dozen important messages that can stand alone as topics for discussion in Luke 6:39-45 

Seeing our own blind spots, and recognizing - and following - someone who doesn't share our blindness.
Understanding what we don't understand, and recognizing - and learning from - someone who can teach us new understandings.
Acknowledging our own faults / biases / prejudices, and removing them. This will help us to recognize how easy it is to have biases and be gentle when addressing them in others.
Being careful not to judge a book by its cover. Focus on a person's actual conduct and its results not on what they say or look like.
It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.
Whenever you start something new, make sure it is built on a good foundation. And - since storms will always happen - make sure you build before the storm hits!

Jesus is calling us to live our lives out of an alternative vision of reality that reverses the values of our culture and “renews the face of the earth.”

Jesus stresses that it is not enough to come to him and hear his words. We must also act on them.

This is when the Good News becomes hard news, because all of us who come to Jesus and hear his words will have to make some major changes in our habits, attitudes and behaviors to actually act on his teachings.

He shows us how God intends us to live together. But because this age is not living in the way God desires us, it means that opting to live God's way right now will require both wisdom and innocence; courage and humility. (Adapted from David Ewart, www.holytextures.com. March 2019)