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Saturday, September 01, 2007

115 is even a bigger number

Bro. Juniper just announced the latest thermometer reading. 115 with a light wind. And as usual, those around the dining table responded in unison, "But it's a dry heat!"

And a brief note on empathy.

Long ago I heard the proverbial walking two moons in your neighbor's moccasins before passing judgment. Of course imagination can allow me to 'pretend' to walk in my neighbor's moccasins (and save me two moons) and thereby imagine my neighbor's hurts, anxieties, losses, and come to understand my neighbor's behavior in a meaningful way. Yes, empathy is pretending, pretending made holy.

3 comments:

Larry said...

115 is a big number! I'm hoping your swamp coolers are working fine. Your friendship cools me down tonight. Thank you, my friend.

Lucy said...

Dear Brother
Fine reading as always.
I wanted very much to thank you from Tom too,for your sympathetic ( not necessary to be empathetic perhaps, as you spoke so warmly and generously from your own direct experience) comment on mine about hearing loss. He too thinks it may have come from services days, working on jet aircraft in hangars.
Your words more than any have encouraged us to try again with the audiologists, and if necessary, change the model.
Thanks again, we are moved and grateful for the thoughts and prayers. Bless you.

julia said...

empathy is fine, so long as the other person sticks around and doesn't bolt as soon as a problem arises, n'est-ce pas?