Empathy

Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal

As much as some might disparage public broadcasting, the BBC provides a wonderful service allowing members of the British faith community to share their thoughts.

I was reminded of this over the weekend when the BBC “Thought For the Day” covered the latest developments in what some call empathy education. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/

In fact, when I looked online, I noticed that the word empathy appears quite frequently in BBC podcasts from religious leaders of all backgrounds.

In this particular podcast, the presenter (the Reverend Dr. Rob Marshall) made the point that empathy has a spiritual as well as a physical and mental dimension. While his point was directed at developments in elementary education, it also has a broader application. Too many of us find it very difficult to empathize with people who have starkly different points of view.

As we head into an election season in a very polarized society it is especially important for us to think about how best we can empathize with people who hold vastly different points of view from ours. Please join us at Tyson’s Interfaith on October 6^th when we talk about these issues with professor Al Fuertes of George Mason University, who will discuss how spirituality can help us overcome our differences and be more empathetic toward people holding different points of views.

To learn more about and to register for the Tysons Interfaith/George Mason University October 6 event, please visit:  LINK.

This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.