Empathy: Your Wings to Heaven

There is an Indian parable that is quite thought-provoking. It’s about a prostitute living across the street from a small monastery occupied by a monk. They can see each other from a distance through their windows.

The monk meditates and prays daily. But, through his window, he frequently sees men entering and leaving her house across the street. He says in his head, “What an adulterous woman! She will burn in hell for her sins.”

Every now and then, the prostitute looks through her window, sees the meditating monk, and thinks with admiration, “Heaven bless him! I wish I could meditate and pray day and night like him in my next life. May he be bless forever.”

One day, both of them die and end up at the gate of paradise. The angel ushers the woman in but does not let the monk enter. The monk asks, “You must have got it wrong. That woman is a sinner, but I am a monk.”

The angel replies, “Yes, I know who you are. The problem is when you meditated, you cursed the woman across the street. But, when she saw you through her window, she sent her blessings to you.” Now, her blessings return to her, and your curses return to you. (End of story.)

I am sure we all know that this parable is not to justify prostitution but to awaken the listener to be careful about their inner conduct because appearance can be deceiving. As the saying goes, “Don’t judge the book by its cover.”

The question is, how can we improve our ability to see through the cover? The answer is “empathy.” Empathy is often misunderstood because it’s a nebulous cognition. According to scientists, there are four types of empathy: cognitive empathy, affective empathy, somatic empathy, and spiritual empathy.

Another problem is that those who don’t have empathy cannot make sense of it. Even if you have it, you could lose it due to some life changes. Some people lose empathy due to a traumatic experience, some become too wealthy and lose empathy, and some rise to a high social status and lose empathy with commoners.

For example, in the story, the monk loses his empathy because he is of honorable status. He thinks he holds the moral high ground and gains the right to judge those of the lower class.

In the Bible, we see similar conditions among the Pharisees and scribes who had lost their empathy for the prostitutes, tax collectors, cripples, and other so-called sinners. The brother of the Prodigal Son cannot empathize with his younger brother because of his moral high ground.

The Greek word “σπλαγχνίζομαι” (splagchnizomai) is often translated as “compassion” or “mercy” because there is no equivalent English word for it. After some reseach, I discovered “empathy” a more precise translation. That open our mind’s eye to understand Jesus and his teaching more profoundly.

Over and over again, Jesus warned the religious elites about their lack of empathy. In recent weeks, we have covered several parables of Jesus warning us of the danger of apathy. Apathy is the opposite of empathy. Most importantly, the lack of empathy could lock us out of heaven.

Money and wealth can also make us lose our empathy. In today’s scripture lesson, Jesus tells the “Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.” Many people get confused by this parable because the rich man did nothing wrong but ended up in Hades, or hell. The context reveals why he was in hell: apathy.

Based on this story, it’s vital to rejuvenate our empathy, exercise it, and grow it like a spiritual muscle. Having empathy will keep your heart warm and happy. You will win friends and influence people. Most importantly, you will become Christlike because Jesus came on earth to show us the empathy of God.

Empathy will be like a set of wings, allowing you to fly like an eagle in the sky instead of running like a turkey on the ground. No offense to the turkeys; we need them for Thanksgiving. Let’s begin!