I won’t watch the new film about the teenager who defied the Reicht. Unless you understand empathy, you can’t know why people risk all for others. Empathy is more rare than we realize. Instead of focus on ME it is focus on OTHERS. What is an opposite behavior? The opposite of empathy isn’t a single word but a spectrum of traits, with apathy – a lack of feeling/concern – and antipathy – dislike or repugnance being key opposites. Other related terms are callousness, indifference, and cold-heartedness. You get the picture. What drains an empath’s energy? Feeling too much is exhausting. Absorbing the hurt around you is exhausting. Because our ‘make-up’ is a gift from God, it can be managed. Take care of yourself while taking care of others. It is possible. Empaths are usually (not always) right. What they notice, that others miss, is real. I have wondered why I cry at commercials – designed to have that effect. I cannot watch scary movies. Even a Hallmark story can tweak my emotions. Years ago I noticed, while visiting a cousin, that she was moving differently – like she had pain. I was a teenager. I asked my Mom after the family visit and she had not noticed. Not long after we learned that she was dealing with painful arthritis. If God let me see what others missed it means something. I am to do something for that person or persons. In the intro above, Helmuth Hubener, who saw what was coming for the Jewish people, was executed for treason. He stood up to Nazi propaganda by writing and distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets. He did what he could to protect the innocent. The anti-abortionists have been censured for much less but are standing up to protect the innocent. It is when ‘the other’ is more important than you that the empath takes risks. After empathy came death to Hubener. He was right, of course. Jesus was full of empathy and they killed Him too.
Think of the nurses and teachers that you know. Those who cry easily and those who never cry because they are only focused on themselves. What a loss for any minister who cannot muster the empathy for others. We all have some level of sensitivity to others. Note that we have different gifts with Paul, in I Corinthians, addressing the whole body, the whole church. I am not saying it is better but that it is harder. I found a statistic that suggests only 3% are in danger of losing sleep over what they want to fix. Somedays I’m a mess.