Humane Emotion

Philadelphia has been barraged with tragedy these past few days.  Two teenagers went missing, one from an very affluent family and one from a less financially fortunate situation.  One had significant social media, community local and national searches, one had a tag line in the news.  One was found safe and alive and the other was not.

I was filled with relief and joy when the 13 year old girl was found and returned to her family; it made me hopeful for the other lost child.

I was overcome with sorrow when I learned that the 13 year old boy was found dead, on his own estate, four days after he went missing; he had died the same day he was lost, buried under a foot of snowfall.

The city also had another policeman killed on Thursday night.  The father of two children, he was in a Game Stop buying a birthday present for his son, when the store was robbed, and he was shot.  The city mourns, from locals to visitors.  Unknown citizens to famous celebrities have all lined up to grieve and to donate to his family in his memory.

I went out today, on an errand and watched in horror as a small dog ran into traffic was struck a glancing blow, which knocked him down and then was fully crushed by the next passing car.  Neither driver stopped (I had in the opposite lane to avoid the little dog, it all happened too quickly to do anything).  His owner retrieved him from the street and I wept for him and for the dog.

I was also weeping for the lost boy.  I found out he had died, when I went to see if I could help find him.  The parking lot of the rally place was empty, save for one woman, who informed me that his body had been found.

Empathy and sympathy are important emotions; they make us more humane when we feel them. Abstract in concept, but so very really real in experience, they give comfort and compassion to the recipient and expand the capacity for action in those who reach out on those valuable emotions. Hundreds of people turned out to look for this child because they felt the horror of being in the parents situation, and they felt the fear and isolation of the child. Empathy and sympathy are hugely important and need to be nurtured; they bring out our best. We may not all know the feeling of the person in pain directly, but we can imagine.

The money of the affluent family will never comfort their loss; pain is universal regardless of situation.  The loss of a child is infinite, only our empathy, sympathy and care will help buoy them to go on; they will help us go on as well.

The police officer's family has the outpourings of thousands in this city and they deserve our gratitude for his diligence and devotion. I hope it helps, and perhaps helps even enough for us to "Stop shooting our cops."  The new rally cry of the city.

I hope our capacity for conceptual care expands, but I also hope that we move towards much more empathy of joy and happiness.