An observation: I believe that empathy is fast becoming a lost human trait. I've been working in downtown Houston for over a year now and from time to time homeless people will approach those of us standing at our bus stop and ask for money. As I watch them approach individuals, I see many kinds of reactions. Some will look and listen to their plea and then shake their heads no. Others will respond I don't carry cash on my person. Some will wave the person away as they are approaching them. Yet, the ones that really get to me are the ones who have their Blackberry's or Iphone's in their hands and will not even look at the homeless person while they are talking. It is as though they are saying, you are not worth me looking at and acknowledging you as a person.
How did we get this way? I think that most of those waiting at the bus stop make way more money than we need to be comfortable. So, what will one dollar hurt if we have more discretionary cash than we need? I have heard the arguments from people in my church to justify why they choose to ignore them because, "I don't think we should give to them because they are probably going to buy alcohol or drugs with the money." So, does that truly justify not having empathy towards them? Or is that simply an argument to keep our consciences salved?
The prime example of little empathy living in the world today came from the former CEO of BP when the Gulf blowout occurred. I don't for a moment think he meant it to come out in the words that it did, but how could he say, "I just want my life back"? At that very moment there were 11 families who wanted their loved ones back. Yet, what was on his heart was not the grieving families, but his life. The clear example of no empathy in his heart was the sneaky way he chose to leave the gulf region while his company was fighting hard to contain a major disaster so he could attend a sailing competition. He was so sneaky, he tried to disguise himself while on the boat so others would not notice what he was doing. All of this shows a deep lack of empathy in this man. Yet, I believe it mirrors that majority of us on this good Earth.
Philip Yancey writes that when we read the Bible one thing we notice is that Jesus never turned anybody away that approached him and asked him for something. He also did not discriminate based on circumstance. By that I mean between deciding that this person is "more" deserving of my help than that person is. He healed everyone who asked him for healing. He talked to everyone who approached him with questions. The Samaritan woman at the well who was living with her boyfriend after being married and divorced 5 times found deep empathy from Jesus and it changed her life. Yet I don't see empathy occurring very much in our society today.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I have the ability to pause and lift up thanks for my material blessings and I have much. I think moving forward I want to imitate Jesus and not turn people away that ask me for help. Let's see if empathy can be reignited once it has grown cold in our hearts. We know that it has power, because empathy moved the Samaritan women so much that she ran into town and told them you need to "come see this man I met, because I think he is the Messiah!" Rekindle empathy in my heart, Father, because you tell us that you care about the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the weak among us. I want to exhibit what you expect from me as your child.
The prime example of little empathy living in the world today came from the former CEO of BP when the Gulf blowout occurred. I don't for a moment think he meant it to come out in the words that it did, but how could he say, "I just want my life back"? At that very moment there were 11 families who wanted their loved ones back. Yet, what was on his heart was not the grieving families, but his life. The clear example of no empathy in his heart was the sneaky way he chose to leave the gulf region while his company was fighting hard to contain a major disaster so he could attend a sailing competition. He was so sneaky, he tried to disguise himself while on the boat so others would not notice what he was doing. All of this shows a deep lack of empathy in this man. Yet, I believe it mirrors that majority of us on this good Earth.
Philip Yancey writes that when we read the Bible one thing we notice is that Jesus never turned anybody away that approached him and asked him for something. He also did not discriminate based on circumstance. By that I mean between deciding that this person is "more" deserving of my help than that person is. He healed everyone who asked him for healing. He talked to everyone who approached him with questions. The Samaritan woman at the well who was living with her boyfriend after being married and divorced 5 times found deep empathy from Jesus and it changed her life. Yet I don't see empathy occurring very much in our society today.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I have the ability to pause and lift up thanks for my material blessings and I have much. I think moving forward I want to imitate Jesus and not turn people away that ask me for help. Let's see if empathy can be reignited once it has grown cold in our hearts. We know that it has power, because empathy moved the Samaritan women so much that she ran into town and told them you need to "come see this man I met, because I think he is the Messiah!" Rekindle empathy in my heart, Father, because you tell us that you care about the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the weak among us. I want to exhibit what you expect from me as your child.
No comments:
Post a Comment