Empathy and Hope

What does it mean to empathize? To have empathy? I suggest that it requires first that we see in the 'other' our sister, our brother.  That we strive to put ourselves in the place of the other, that we contemplate what it is that she or he is experiencing. That we attempt, as best we can, to walk in the shoes or sandals of the other.  Empathy, by definition, "is the capacity to recognize emotions that are being experienced by another sentient or fictional being."  It is the precursor to compassion. For,  "one may need to have a certain amount of empathy before being able to experience compassion."

Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that it is not enough to say that we 'are.' We must come to know and see, with all of our senses and our entire being, that we 'inter-are.' We exist in relationship.  We are connected. Our well-being is dependent upon the well-being of others. Our very being, our life, is woven into the fabric of our inter-being, the life of our sisters and brothers, our human community, our ecological and environmental interdependence.  The very air we breathe, the life we live, depends upon the trees, the plants, the sky, the earth, the oceans, the parents, sisters, brothers, with whom we share this extraordinary time and place.

What if we saw the gang member as our brother? What if we saw the terrorist as our sister? What if we saw, empathized with, recognized and experienced the emotions of the downtrodden, the outsider, the homeless, the mentally ill, the neglected, the orphan, the widow, as our own?  What might be different? What might our life and family and community look like?

Can we see with the eyes of love, that we are all brothers and sisters of love? Can we experience profoundly what it means truly to stand in someone elses shoes? Can we absorb the delight of kinship?

If we can, how can we not then bow before the mystery and grace of life and smile, and maybe even sing an Ode to Joy?

Empathy invites us to see differently and deeply, to love tenderly, to live justice, and to walk humbly with our sisters and brothers, our ancestors, our fathers and mothers, our Creator.  Empathy compels compassion and compassion "is regarded as a fundamental part of human love, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism." Empathy calls us to compassion. Compassion invites love, connection and community.  Love, connection and community allow us to care for our children and hear a child sing of amazing grace.

As we listen to her song, how can we not then discover our own, native, indigenous grace and the song we are meant to sing with empathy, compassion, love, joy and hope in the world?

 

This is my hope for me, for you, for all of us - that in empathy you know compassion and love, and that this knowing leads you to joy, and song and hope. May you be full of hope. May you be hope-full.