Sometimes I think that the gifts we have been blessed with can be hard to bear. They are still gifts and meant to bless the lives of other people, but sometimes they are difficult to understand and difficult to use. Empathy, for example. It is a gift to have empathy and to be able to feel with others. When my kids were little, I used to always think that if I could have any super power, it would be to be able to feel what others feel. Part of that was so that I could understand my children’s illnesses and be able to help better. But empathy can hurt. Life is hard. It is confusing and people struggle in so many ways. If you are blessed with the ability to be empathetic towards others … what is your responsibility to that gift? How do you bless the lives of others through that gift? There is a responsibility to it, no doubt. How do you use it when things hurt so much?
Sometimes I think that we are just supposed to be in the pain with others, so they are not alone. That’s what the Lord does for us. Actually, He understands and feels it better than us, more completely. He comprehends it perfectly. But what if I am the one causing the pain? And it is not intentional? I can feel the pain I am causing. How do I fix it? What do I do with this?
Forever grateful for bounteous gifts but wish I understood them better.
