Understanding Empathy is to understand the way people interact with one another.
Empathy is a situational understanding of purpose, ideals, morals, and thoughts that humans share with one another.
Being able to grasp this concept will not only enlighten our knowledge of others, but also allow us to experience more intimate relationships with one another.
I will be the first to admit that empathy is not my strongest trait, and at times there is not a shred of it to be found.
Empathy has always seemed like something for people much smarter than myself to discuss, when in reality it is something that everyone employes on a regular basis. Sensing that a loved one is down or upset, feeling the need to help someone that is struggling, the smile that comes when seeing a child open a present; these are all situations in which empathy is enacted. It is the emotional understanding and feeling we experience when watching or hearing about and experience of another.
Although these feelings are empathetic in nature, the true measure of empathy comes with the actions of the individual effected.
Empathy brings a hammer to the walls of the human relationship, enabling people to understand one another in a much more intimate sense. Empathy is a universal concept that should be utilized in every situation; it is “the moral glue that holds civil society together.” (C. Calloway-Thomas) Not everyone is as inept as others in the art of empathy; this is why it is important for a greater understanding of the concept to be unveiled. Empathy can and should be learned.
Is empathy the fix all? Can it bring broken people back together? There is not a clear answer to these questions. However the world would be a much better place if people would allow an understanding of each other to take place, if there was empathy for one another, maybe the world would not be the broken place that it is today.
Because of the culture of today, especially within the US, there is a great deal of importance found in who is considered "right" in any given situation. While I agree that some concepts and thoughts are meant to be held and not compromised, I would argue that for the majority of situations the essence of individual is pushed aside and disregarded for the idol of the theology or idea presented. That is to say that many people to hold to a concept of, "My ideology is more important than you."
But maybe there doesn’t always need to be an answer if there is understanding.
Is it possible that the differences we fight over are moot in the light of who we are?
The key emphasis of empathy is purely relational and is revealed through everyday interaction with other individuals. The big situations as well as the small must be examined through a sense of empathy in order for human relationships to expand and to be fulfilling.
The concept of empathy is a very difficult one for me to unpack. There is the tendency for me to fall into my political ideology which a lines itself with the Libertarian party. Using this ideology it is easy for me to think that everyone should care for themselves and that it is not my responsibility to care or pay for the faulty actions of others. However I must still remind myself that being a Christian means that it is my responsibility to care for the hurting people in this world. Empathy assists me in walking this line between the two seemingly conflicting ideologies.
In this struggle I have been pushed towards a simple ideology presented in Genesis 2:15:
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
It is inherently man's (both male and female) job to care for creation.
We must care for each other, and this begins with Empathy.
Empathy is a situational understanding of purpose, ideals, morals, and thoughts that humans share with one another.
Being able to grasp this concept will not only enlighten our knowledge of others, but also allow us to experience more intimate relationships with one another.
I will be the first to admit that empathy is not my strongest trait, and at times there is not a shred of it to be found.
Empathy has always seemed like something for people much smarter than myself to discuss, when in reality it is something that everyone employes on a regular basis. Sensing that a loved one is down or upset, feeling the need to help someone that is struggling, the smile that comes when seeing a child open a present; these are all situations in which empathy is enacted. It is the emotional understanding and feeling we experience when watching or hearing about and experience of another.
Although these feelings are empathetic in nature, the true measure of empathy comes with the actions of the individual effected.
Empathy brings a hammer to the walls of the human relationship, enabling people to understand one another in a much more intimate sense. Empathy is a universal concept that should be utilized in every situation; it is “the moral glue that holds civil society together.” (C. Calloway-Thomas) Not everyone is as inept as others in the art of empathy; this is why it is important for a greater understanding of the concept to be unveiled. Empathy can and should be learned.
Is empathy the fix all? Can it bring broken people back together? There is not a clear answer to these questions. However the world would be a much better place if people would allow an understanding of each other to take place, if there was empathy for one another, maybe the world would not be the broken place that it is today.
Because of the culture of today, especially within the US, there is a great deal of importance found in who is considered "right" in any given situation. While I agree that some concepts and thoughts are meant to be held and not compromised, I would argue that for the majority of situations the essence of individual is pushed aside and disregarded for the idol of the theology or idea presented. That is to say that many people to hold to a concept of, "My ideology is more important than you."
But maybe there doesn’t always need to be an answer if there is understanding.
Is it possible that the differences we fight over are moot in the light of who we are?
The key emphasis of empathy is purely relational and is revealed through everyday interaction with other individuals. The big situations as well as the small must be examined through a sense of empathy in order for human relationships to expand and to be fulfilling.
The concept of empathy is a very difficult one for me to unpack. There is the tendency for me to fall into my political ideology which a lines itself with the Libertarian party. Using this ideology it is easy for me to think that everyone should care for themselves and that it is not my responsibility to care or pay for the faulty actions of others. However I must still remind myself that being a Christian means that it is my responsibility to care for the hurting people in this world. Empathy assists me in walking this line between the two seemingly conflicting ideologies.
In this struggle I have been pushed towards a simple ideology presented in Genesis 2:15:
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
It is inherently man's (both male and female) job to care for creation.
We must care for each other, and this begins with Empathy.
You really hit home for me with the statement, "My ideology is more important than you." What a scary statement that we've all probably held without even thinking about it! Thanks for sharing this. Good stuff!
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