Empathy in the individual is an extremely important quality. Although it is a felt characteristic, not strictly related to IQ, I think it is a cornerstone in the development of intelligence. Here's why. When we have the ability to feel for others, we truly connect with our world and the fiasco of self ends. At least that's the theory! But empathy is not the end. It's just the beginning. Once acquired, our empathy does not stay with us statically; it can grow or recede. We can develop it, but the tricky thing is that we can also increase our ability to tap into it artificially. In other words, we can learn to pretend. Anyone can appear thoughtful. We must be suspicious of those who appear thoughtful without actually feeling moved. But the truth is, it's me. There is a darkness in me that prevents me from continuing as a pastor and counselor without being traumatized. Some would call it a thick skin. I know I am capable of enormous empathy, but now it is enormously tempered by my mind. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In a way, I can control it. On the one hand such control is good. It helps me do my job. But on another level I feel cut off from what I could feel. Or I mourn the fact that I'm no longer as emotional as I once was or as upset about things as many other people are. In a weaker moment, I can actually wonder if there is darkness in me to the extent that my conscience is somehow burned. But I know what I think, and this convinces me: my thoughts convey reprehensibility for things that would otherwise gut me. See how there is entry into the reality of my darkness. I'm not afraid to find out how dark my soul can be. It would bother me where I was, if I found darkness. And so it was. But it only bothers me to the extent that I feel moved to do something about it. Yet this is just one example. I'm still vulnerable in the areas where I think I'm right, where I might be wrong, where pride can still be the predictable initial response. Pride is never too far away as an immediate response to which I must be awake. Pride is driven by the fear that I am not, in fact, all that I think I am. However, there are hidden darknesses that I have yet to be made aware of that prompt the prayer, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” 'You may have heard the song The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel, which says: 'A man hears what he wants to hear and ignores the rest.' This is so true of our human nature, that we cannot see what others see, and what others see we ignore, because we can only see our own truth, and this forever polarizes us into conflict with others who do not I agree. We are left to war, to battle, to denigrate justice, and to fight for “justice,” and the greatest irony of all is that the supposed social justice warrior insists he is right, and if only things were going in the right direction , all would be right with the world. world. Sorry, I don't buy it. Yet, there are those on the right who cannot bear the fact that they too could be wrong. I see so many unreliable things in polarities. Both sides manipulate the truth to suit their needs and support their position. Is it possible that we are all wrong? If all of us could be wrong, and if only God could truly be right, all the time, what could he convince us to do? The problem is that, especially in the Christian world, we tend to think that God is on our side whenthere are other Christians who see the world differently and believe that God is on their side. Could it be possible that we are both partially right? If this is true, we are also both partially wrong. Where do all these thoughts take us? We hope they lead us to take our sinful self-importance to the cross, to confess our need for Jesus, and to repent toward the possibility of those truths we cannot yet see. All we need to do is recognize that we cannot see everything. We can only fix "us" in the name of Jesus. The “other” is the design of the Holy Spirit. Imagine this scenario: standing before God's Judgment Seat on the day we finally meet Him. We listen to the recording of our lives. Along with our recording, as it is read, we hear the recordings of others being read; those whose lives have paralleled ours, and, most importantly, where this matter is concerned, we listen to the accounts of those people whom we may praise and despise. Little by little we are enlightened as we listen and begin to understand the facts that we never knew, what are the things that we have always done that we thought were right but that were not quite right, and those things that others have done that we thought were wrong, it wasn't entirely wrong. We listen to the story of this other person who we could not forgive and for the first time in our lives we see how truly lovable he is, because the perception of God is added to us. We begin to see who they really are from the experiences that have shaped their lives. And suddenly there is a sense of remorse, because we didn't see, or chose not to see, what we always could have seen if only we had been open-hearted. In the immediacy of this moment, suddenly God makes us angelic to the point that all our eyes can see is the truth, and from that truth is all the portion of grace, because, for the first time in our lives, we understood that grace can only be understood and extended from the perspective of the fullness of truth. Then, after a seemingly long silence and pause, God speaks these words softly: 'You seem surprised, my son/daughter. “Didn't you think you had blind spots too? Haven't you planned this day? Have you always thought you read me right, while you thought others who love me read me wrong? Have you thought that the moment you committed yourself to Jesus you resolved your sin in its entirety? Were you not at all concerned that since you committed to following My Son, you have not grown as much as you should have? Do you arrive here imagining yourself at the top of the mortal hierarchy in heaven? Have you lived your life that way? Of course, right now you're thinking, "You know everything, God, so I have no defense." Of course, the accusation stands, because My questions to you are not a judgment as you think they are a judgment. Until now you have been led to consider everything that is contrary to your point of view as a judgment. I offer these rhetorical questions to bring you to the truth that causes repentance, which is an eternal commitment and commission to the truth. «My grace has covered you; you are loved and you are mine, but I would not love you if I did not bring you this truth. Now enjoy my heavenly kingdom, knowing that only now can you do good and be good to everyone. “What if our world was suddenly full of people, each of us, who immediately saw where we were wrong, instead of always being right?” Of course, this is not a picture of the earth, it is a picture of heaven on earth, but not of the new heaven and earth where there will be no error. Please note: this is just an example. 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