Christ's Empathy for Us

I read an article called The Healing Power of Empathy, by Daniel Harrison in which he wrote: "This type of love [empathy] Jesus commands His followers to possess (John 15:12–14)—the type of love that, once it understands what another person is going through, actively seeks that person’s well-being." http://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2008/September/the-healing-power-of-empathy.html

The article was about cultivating empathy to heal the divides between people.  What I took away was the significance of the snippet I quoted above.  It prompted me to look up the passage from John 15, and I found the below, John 15: 1-13 to be very insightful as I read it with a new perspective.

Online Resources for Empaths

I am endeavoring to create a list of online resources for empaths.  As a christian empath, I am trying to avoid sites that lean too much towards the occult for my comfort.  I hope to include many sites that present the gift of empathy from the Christian perspective.  Please use discernment and good judgement extracting the information from these sites that is helpful and appropriate.

Why I'm excited about the Eucharist

I have recently noticed positive changes in my life following the celebration of the Eucharist.  Which leads me to wonder more about this sacrament and it's meaning.  The meaning of the Sacrament has been obscure to me despite having been confirmed in the Catholic Church.

Words for Love: Empathy in the bible

I occasionally come across online discussions that raise the fact that the word "empathy" does not appear in the bible.  I've seen discussions parsing words over what kinds of spiritual gifts are given.  That having the abilities that empaths claim is not possible and one instead may be compassionate, sympathetic, or have a mental illness.

Crying at a Birthday Party?!?

There's no crying in baseball, and who would expect to be teary-eyed at a birthday party?  Well, that was me.  The lights went out, the candles were lit, the group began to sing, and I suddenly realized for the young child's birthday there was no father in attendance.

Sharing empathic experiences

The gift of empathy is often dismissed, misunderstood, or worse - viewed as solely in the realm of the occult.  People that have empathic abilities often find it difficult to find support in their communities.  Online sources on the subject vary vastly in their helpfulness.  With these issues in mind, I'd like to share some of my empathic experiences and invite my readers to do the same or even to just ask questions if you have them.

Play on Words: Empathic vs. Empathetic

I found this article from The Grammarist to be very interesting:

"Empathic is a variant of empathetic, which means characterized by empathy. Some American dictionaries list empathic as the standard word and empathetic as the variant, and the shorter word is older than the longer one. But empathetic has prevailed—probably due to analogy with sympathetic—and is now about five times as common as empathic in news publications from throughout the English-speaking world."