Yesterday, in my prayer and Bible reading time, I read this:
“Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”
(Bible - Hebrews 13:3)
It’s the “as if” that caught me.
Christians are encouraged not only to help from a distance - but to see, to hear, to feel. To be present. We are encouraged to develop active compassion and empathy as part of our faith. To not look away. And to not only give through a third party, maintaining cool, personal distance.1
When I was much younger, I was sure that, given the opportunity, I could probably solve just about anything that crossed my path. Now I laugh (and then cry a bit) at that thought. I definitely can’t. But the temptation, then, is to walk away, and choose not to see at all. After all, if I can’t fix it, there’s no point in spending time there. And for a person who wants to help, it is deeply uncomfortable to stay in a place where I cannot.
But looking away is not an option either. I suspect it might be a Christian discipline to choose empathy, even when we cannot fix something. To be present with people in their pain, because how can they trust that God is still with them, if we won’t be?
Yesterday, I read that scripture in my own personal time. Later in the day, I unexpectedly sat with someone in their pain, pain I can’t even begin to solve.
It mattered.
To them.
And to me.
“Lord, help me to choose to develop an ‘as if’ heart, a heart of compassion and empathy. Amen.”
It goes without saying, or should, that we can do both. There are times I help through a third party that has better understanding and closer connection. But that doesn’t absolve me from caring personally about the ones who cross my own path.