Is Their Such A Thing As Too Much Empathy?-- Breanna Poole
by Breanna Poole
I would like to preface this blog post by saying that I really love the language used in the Books so far. Something about the phrases used just connect really well with me. The phrasing is absolutely gorgeous to read and I often had to take a step back at certain points just to say 'wow, I really just read that'. The line 'I was glad to be in bondage, tied with troublesome chains, with the result that I was flogged with the red-hot iron rods of jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention' from Book Three, Chapter 1 actually almost almost made me cry with how amazing it was, and that was only the beginning of this reading, and it set up very nicely the feast for the eyes I was about to encounter.
Now that I have officially gone on my spiel about how awesome the diction of this book is, I can now go into some of my thoughts on the actual content.
The part that really struck me the most is when Augustine talked about viewing plays and the idea of viewing tragedy versus experiencing it and understanding how that relates to our spiritual lives, which was a thought that caused a lot of reflection on my part. He brings up this idea of mercy (where you look at tragedy and feel empathy) and how he enjoyed that feeling, and how he kept pursing avenues to experience it. I think that brings up a really interesting point, one which Augustine I believe communicates much better than I ever will, of that we try to separate ourselves from tragedy and live vicariously through other peoples -- be it fictional or non.
We try to avoid our own faults and our own problems and focus instead on the problems of fictional characters or other believers instead of our own. I actually have had entire conversations with a friend who listed off all the problems and tragedies of a character but at the same time then turned around and refused to confront his inconsistencies on belief or problems, as at the time he was functionally an atheist before a recent re-conversion to belief in God. I don't say this to throw my friend under the bus, I'm guilty of this too. I can write an entire essay about Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games and how he is one of the best romantic male leads of modern literature for fun (which I actually did), but I have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into confronting my own problems or addressing inconsistency or unfaithfulness in my relationship with God.
I'm not really sure if I have point on how to fix this or what it is exactly I'm saying. I'm just saying that perhaps empathy and mercy -- at least for man -- is a double-edged sword. We as Christians should have and feel empathy for people and show mercy where it is do, as none of us can claim a right to judge others as sinners ourselves, but at the same time we shouldn't become so absorbed in it and that feeling of being empathetic that we loose sight of our own paths with God. I'm not really sure if what making makes sense though, I think my articulation of my point is a little off.
This post is not meant to say that we shouldn't show empathy and mercy, we most certainly should. What I'm saying is that perhaps we need to stop showing so much compassion for fictional characters, and instead marvel at the mercy God has shown in our own real, non-fictional lives and be grateful for it, as well as spread the truth of the mercy God gives us to other people. This seems hypocritical, I know, coming from me, as I am very guilty of doing just what I am describing.
I'm about 1000% sure this post makes so sense, but I hope somewhere along the line I wrote something that made sense. I'm not sure if this was what Augustine wanted me to get out of his Third Book, but it's what I walked away feeling and what I felt like needed to be discussed, even if my point seems jumbled and a little confused.
{I promise all my posts won't be this nonsensical guys, I really do promise.}
P.S. I commented on AnnaKate and Katie's posts
I would like to preface this blog post by saying that I really love the language used in the Books so far. Something about the phrases used just connect really well with me. The phrasing is absolutely gorgeous to read and I often had to take a step back at certain points just to say 'wow, I really just read that'. The line 'I was glad to be in bondage, tied with troublesome chains, with the result that I was flogged with the red-hot iron rods of jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention' from Book Three, Chapter 1 actually almost almost made me cry with how amazing it was, and that was only the beginning of this reading, and it set up very nicely the feast for the eyes I was about to encounter.
Now that I have officially gone on my spiel about how awesome the diction of this book is, I can now go into some of my thoughts on the actual content.
The part that really struck me the most is when Augustine talked about viewing plays and the idea of viewing tragedy versus experiencing it and understanding how that relates to our spiritual lives, which was a thought that caused a lot of reflection on my part. He brings up this idea of mercy (where you look at tragedy and feel empathy) and how he enjoyed that feeling, and how he kept pursing avenues to experience it. I think that brings up a really interesting point, one which Augustine I believe communicates much better than I ever will, of that we try to separate ourselves from tragedy and live vicariously through other peoples -- be it fictional or non.
We try to avoid our own faults and our own problems and focus instead on the problems of fictional characters or other believers instead of our own. I actually have had entire conversations with a friend who listed off all the problems and tragedies of a character but at the same time then turned around and refused to confront his inconsistencies on belief or problems, as at the time he was functionally an atheist before a recent re-conversion to belief in God. I don't say this to throw my friend under the bus, I'm guilty of this too. I can write an entire essay about Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games and how he is one of the best romantic male leads of modern literature for fun (which I actually did), but I have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into confronting my own problems or addressing inconsistency or unfaithfulness in my relationship with God.
I'm not really sure if I have point on how to fix this or what it is exactly I'm saying. I'm just saying that perhaps empathy and mercy -- at least for man -- is a double-edged sword. We as Christians should have and feel empathy for people and show mercy where it is do, as none of us can claim a right to judge others as sinners ourselves, but at the same time we shouldn't become so absorbed in it and that feeling of being empathetic that we loose sight of our own paths with God. I'm not really sure if what making makes sense though, I think my articulation of my point is a little off.
This post is not meant to say that we shouldn't show empathy and mercy, we most certainly should. What I'm saying is that perhaps we need to stop showing so much compassion for fictional characters, and instead marvel at the mercy God has shown in our own real, non-fictional lives and be grateful for it, as well as spread the truth of the mercy God gives us to other people. This seems hypocritical, I know, coming from me, as I am very guilty of doing just what I am describing.
I'm about 1000% sure this post makes so sense, but I hope somewhere along the line I wrote something that made sense. I'm not sure if this was what Augustine wanted me to get out of his Third Book, but it's what I walked away feeling and what I felt like needed to be discussed, even if my point seems jumbled and a little confused.
{I promise all my posts won't be this nonsensical guys, I really do promise.}
P.S. I commented on AnnaKate and Katie's posts
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