Today's letter was a hard one for me
I finally settled on empathy
There have been times in my life that empathy has almost crippled me
Unlike when tragedy hits one's self- empathy often is for a stranger -- leaving you not knowing how they may or may not be coping-- leaving you to imagine the worse
Because we can't feel someone's peace -- we can pray for it - but we never know about some situations
We can only see the headlines-- the horrible details- the hopeless emptiness of life that often comes from what seem to be random senseless events
I guess who we see ourselves in will lead to a greater experience of empathy
Yesterday as I heard the details of a heartbreaking situation- of a family I did not know -- I felt as though I did know them-- I started questioning life and all the mysteries each day holds--
My prayer for all is the comfort of the Holy Spirit- the presense I have deeply been aware of many times in my life-- and God's tender mercies for the day
I join you in that prayer. I think there is a difference between empathy and sympathy. If I haven't experienced what someone is going through, I can sympathize with them. If I have experienced what someone has gone through, then I can empathize with them. For instance, dealing with infertility like we did, I can empathize with someone who is dealing with it. I can sympathize with the recent story here in Phoenix of a 10 year old girl being killed when someone in road rage followed their car home and shot at the car with them pulled into their driveway, hitting her and someone else in the car (not sure who) but she died. They have good leads to the truck the guy was driving and a good sketch of him so I'm hopeful it will be caught. But in this case, I can sympathize with the parents on the loss of their precious daughter, but I can't empathize because by the grace of God my children are still alive.
ReplyDeletebetty
I'm so sorry to hear this- so horrible-
ReplyDeleteEmpathy was a good word. Empathy that just won't leave us - can't get the people off of our minds - that's an act of human decency that more people should know.
ReplyDeleteThat's it -- it doesn't want to leave us- like somehow we connect through our thoughts tears and prayers
ReplyDeleteEmpathy is a great word. It's important to sit with others in their pain. It might not be comfortable, but it is valuable. And we can always pray (sometimes there are no words!), whether we know them or not.
ReplyDeleteSo true- sometimes there ate no words- just knowing ypu aren't alone
ReplyDeleteWanted to say, they caught the guy who shot at that family and killed the 10 year old. They caught him the next day. I knew it was just a matter of time since they had a good description of the truck and a good drawing of him. A 20 year old with a prior record of violence. His life will never be the same again. So tragic all around.
ReplyDeletebetty
I saw that story- yes so horrible- breaks ypur heart!
Delete