By Katy Mariotti

Empathy in a Disconnected World

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
Romans 12:15, English Standard Version

Just this week I learned of the passing of someone that I knew.  It caught me off guard.  We weren’t close and I hadn’t seen her in several years; I didn’t even know she was sick.  But she was someone I had enjoyed spending time with and who I always thought of with joy.  Hearing that she had died didn’t knock me to the ground, but it certainly brought me real sadness.  After I heard I went to the internet to find out more information, and was shocked to find that in the comments of her obituary, someone who I assume didn’t even know her said something political and cruel.

I couldn’t believe it.  Here in a statement about a real person’s life, posted by the grieving family who loved her, someone had said these things.  But why shouldn’t I believe it?  That sort of thing is all over the internet.  In a world where we can easily talk to people on the other side of the planet, we’ve actually become more disconnected than we have connected.

Like the stars in this picture that my daughter took, when things are so far away they don’t seem real.  When we’ve got the shield of a computer or phone screen in front of us, people don’t seem real either.  And I fear that this has leaked into other parts of life too.  What about people driving other cars?  People we interact with who make different choices than we would?  It’s easy to see someone as a caricature of a human, rather than a real person who suffers and feels joy.

The Bible calls us to connect.  This chapter in Romans (which I encourage you to read in full) reminds us that God wants us to feel empathy with one another.  He wants us to live in peace, and He wants us to not act as though we are above others.  I pray today that we remember that just like these stars are actually giant balls of fire, even when they seem like tiny points to us, that the people around us contain depths as well, and we are called to love them.  Today let us weep and rejoice with one another!

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado