Lack of Empathy

I attended a meeting this morning with a group of health professionals and leaders of NGO's in my community. We get together monthly and discuss social justice issues and lack of healthcare access. Today our conversation took an interesting and unexpected turn. One of the group bemoaned the lack of interest by physicians who would volunteer time or who would provide free services. The chorus of similar stories was overwhelming! It seems that over the last 10 years or so, all of these groups that depend on gifts of time and service are seeing providers turn away. It got me musing on why we seem to be encountering a decrease in empathy - or as my colleagues put it, a lack of community engagement. We certainly are living in a time where we are overwhlemed. Busy-ness is the by-word right now, and we all seem to have too many irons in the fire. This distracts us from what is really important - taking care of each other and thus our communities. It's possible that the relative lack of attendance and participation in faith communities is playing a role as well. If the dominant narrative is that we should do whatever we can to get our "share of the pie" then it stands to reason that we would not help out another. Giving something away for free is not in our best interest, because it takes money out of our pockets and distracts us from getting ahead. Could this be the case? I have noted in my own children the tendancy to want to hold on to what's theirs and to compete with everyone (even siblings) to get their share. It is a dominant narrative - one that is hard to overcome even in people who attend a faith community almost weekly - and who are leaders. Certainly all the major religions have at their core a model of behavior that promotes simplicity, honesty, empathy and love. My own Christian tradition is full of loving neighbor as self and sharing freely what I have. My friend Dr. Christina Puchalski, who runs the George Washington Institute on Spirituality and Health (www.gwish.org), noticed the lack of spiritual focus in her students and has designed medical school courses to try and change that. My conversations with her have been around how to get those same physicians-in-training to become an active participant in a faith community. Without that (my opinion) the course in spirituality is just another class with no reinforcing narrative. Thus, the transformational piece of belief and faith never occurs, and we have another group of medical professionals who lack the desire and moral imperative to give freely. Lack of empathy is a major issue in our world. When we cannot walk a mile in another's shoes, we cannot fully appreciate them. If they are not appreciated as unique and valuable, then they become just another competitor, and we all lose the race. This week, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack, see if you can practice some empathy for those who performed the act and those who are left behind. Peace for the journey, Dan