Tag: compassion

Empathy: Our superpower

On By fosteringyourfaithIn Living our faith3 Comments

Here’s something I never thought I would say:  Elon Musk is right.  He is right when he says that empathy is risky.  He describes empathy as “the fundamental weakness of western civilization” that will lead to “civilizational suicide.”  Empathy is dangerous, he says, because it causes us to give too much of ourselves.  

But Elon Musk is wrong (you knew I’d get there) with the conclusion he draws. He believes that caring for others will harm us – as a nation and as individuals.  If I give of myself and if I care for someone else, it will hurt me.

He used this logic to halt USAID donations that prevented catastrophes such as polio, starvation, AIDS, and malaria, among many other devastating cuts to our national budget. This was behind his reasoning to deny aid to – just one example – the earthquake victims in Myanmar. 

I’m here to encourage empathy – the ability to understand another’s pain. I want to urge compassion – the ability to feel (passion) with (com) another human being.  This is literally what makes us human.

Jimmy Carter demonstrated this when he stated: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. I am free to choose that something…My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can.”  That led him to public service as governor and President as well as hands-on involvement with Habitat for Humanity.  He lived his faith by caring for others. 

We can do the same.  We must do the same.

When that terrible earthquake hit Myanmar, there was a woman who was five months pregnant and was buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building.  She was powerless to escape.  There was no way out.  All she could do was hope that someone would care enough to sift through the wreckage.  At that moment, empathy was her only hope. Compassion won that day.  Rescuers found her and both she and her unborn child have been given another chance at life.

Sometimes we are the ones buried by devastation, physical or emotional.  Sometimes we are the ones able to reach out a helping hand.

We are called – commanded – to love one another.  Our lives will be richer – not poorer, Mr. Musk, by our engagement with one another.  As Atticus Finch wisely said in To Kill a Mockingbird, 

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”  We will discover more about others and ourselves when we actively care about each other.

So keep doing those good things that I know you are doing.  Volunteer in the soup kitchen. Be a hospice volunteer. Send cards to people who believe they have been forgotten. Lend a hand to a neighbor.  Offer kindnesses to strangers. Participate in food and clothing drives. Use your unique gifts – your beautiful self – to spread compassion in this world. Go to the protests and defend democracy. 

Believe that your act of caring, however big or small, makes a difference.  Engaging with others and caring about our neighbors is what makes us human and what makes us whole.

We live in a world aching for love and caring.  Let us share these gifts whenever and however we can.  

Quote for today: 

“Like the ancient prophets, we are dispatched back to the work entrusted to us.

It is the work of peace-making.

It is the work of truth telling.

It is the work of justice-doing.

It is good work, but it requires our resolve to stay it, even in the face of forces to the contrary that are sure to prevail for a season.” 

  • Walter Brueggeman 

Sign of Support (each week I share a sign that offers hope for these troubling times)

What’s in your wallet?

On By fosteringyourfaithIn Grief4 Comments

“What’s in your wallet?” – that’s the tagline of a credit card company trying to convince us that we need their product to successfully navigate the world. With this in your wallet, they proclaim, you can face any challenge.

          But that made me wonder – what else do we carry in our wallets?  What hidden treasures are held within this mundane carrying case?

          It reminds me of a time when I was helping my father-in-law fill out a pile of forms necessary to move into assisted living.  They needed lots of information – his driver’s license number, social security number, health insurance number.  Again and again, he would say, “I have that – it’s in my wallet.”  He handed me his wallet to look through.  As I was searching for the information, a small black and white photo dropped out.  It was a picture of his son,  my husband’s older brother who had passed away 15 years earlier.  My father-in-law grabbed the photo and at first looked almost angry, then maybe embarrassed.  Finally, this quiet and private man said to me, “I always carry him with me.”

          Since that time, whenever I encounter someone, I always wonder, “What’s in their wallet?”  What hurts are they carrying with them? Who are they missing? What is private and precious to them? Who is near and dear to their heart – hidden from view but always close to them?

          I try to let that thought influence my behavior when I encounter someone who is rude or surly, withdrawn or distant.  I try to wonder – what’s in their wallet?  What load might they be bearing? What unspoken truths do they carry with them?

          This is where the “love kindness” part of Micah’s dictate (Micah 6:8) comes in. We are commanded to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

Every day we encounter many people.  I suspect all of them are yearning for kindness – or at least decency and respect. Every day we meet people who are carrying some burden with them. Without ever knowing what is in their wallet, we can endeavor to treat them with the kindness they deserve.