Another's Shoes

I have always enjoyed reading for fun. However, there is something about assigned reading that makes me dig in my heels and avoid it at all costs. In high school, one of the books I was assigned to read was Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. There is one particular quote from this book that in many ways summarizes a core struggle in humanity.

"First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus Finch had a good point. To get along with one another we must understand one another. There is a lot of truth behind the old adage, "hurt people hurt people." Far too often when someone acts out our reaction is to hurt them back in retaliation. Our first inclination is not to turn the other cheek, but to take an eye for an eye.

We must learn to show empathy. After the death of Lazarus in John 11, Jesus did not berate Mary and Martha for questioning him. No, he understood their suffering and wept with them, even as he knew that Lazarus would be raised from the dead. Jesus endured an unfair trial, mocking, and beating at the hands of his enemies, but despite all of this He practiced what He preached in Luke 6:27-31 when He cried out "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

What kind of difference might we make if we spent less time at each other's throats and more time in one another's shoes? Would our words change, would we act in the same ways? Would we assign motives or assume the worst? Maybe it's time to take a step back and consider someone else for a change.