March 6

For Today's Forward Day by Day readings, Click Here.

This stood out to me today from the scripture readings. I love this promise that in suffering, we grow, and get better, and learn:

Romans 5: 1-11: "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts (editorial side note: and bags!) through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

Today begins the part of this Lenten blog that we investigate the personal contents of our bag. It's a daunting task to reflect on our strengths and talents and define those as perhaps tools that God has given us to bless others. But it's do-able. It's especially do-able if you can find some quiet moments to think.

I looked for those moments yesterday. And when I found them, while the family and I were nestled in the couch after dinner watching "The Man With the 200-Pound Tumor" (can I insert here, yuck...and sad...a little inspiring...but sorry, totally gross), I fell asleep. Down time can do that to a gal. Determining a mental list of my strengths took center stage this morning, but there were fragmented periods of solace.

I did get a reminder, however, of one double-edged strength or personal attribute I have that perhaps fits in my tool box somewhere. It's sympathy and empathy. OK, so the man with the 200-pound tumor was a good reminder, it turns out. I felt really deeply, sickly sorry for this guy in Vietnman who has been lugging a 200-pound mass around for more than 10 years. And empathy? Sure enough...I imagined how that would feel, and I didn't like it for one minute. One of my gifts is feeling utterly sorry for people. Although perhaps that's a curse, who knows.

This morning empathy and sympathy rose to the top of my bag again when I heard about a friend whose child is struggling with some social challenges. I felt her pain in my bones. I was so frustrated and mad for her that my head felt hot. I felt a surge of compassion and anger, as if it were happening to me and my children. I am sympathetic and empathetic today for all the students, faculty and families of Episcopal School of Jacksonville who face the one-year anniversary of Dale Reagan's murder. These feelings rear up again when I think about how some of the seemingly small cuts we have to make at church might affect others. Dang empathy and sympathy!

Empathy/Sympathy. Tool or terror?
What about you, what did you discover during this morning's digging?