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)