Frustration runs high in the nation that proclaims freedom, equality, liberty and justice for all – we’re struggling on several fronts – government is soiled with underhanded funding influencers – businesses and economics are blatantly driven by personal and corporate greed – policing, legal, and justice systems weigh much heavier on the poor and people of color – religions, education systems, and social services are infiltrated with politically laced agendas – and our many flavors of media, news and talking heads aggressively taunt, tease and tear us apart.
All of these national level processes and organizations have the ability to do better, and to right their wrongs – which begs the question, why don’t they? Perhaps, this great nation has lost touch with the basic concept of empathy.
The common admonition to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes means before judging them, you must understand their experiences, challenges, thought processes, etc – it is a simple reminder to practice empathy before passing judgment.
The concept to “walk a mile in my shoes” may be credited to a Mary Lathrap poem published in 1895 – the original title of the poem was Judge Softly, later titled Walk a Mile in His Moccasins – there are many variations of this phrase – it’s an honest plea for empathy, by putting yourself in the shoes of others.
The application of this phrase calls us to mentally put ourselves in the place of others and be more understanding, and compassionate before we unjustly judge, or allow our national level processes and organizations to do harm to those within our nation’s greater influence.
So here’s my point, are the people and processes that lead and influence our nation truly empathic to the “least of these” in our nation – is our nation’s government, businesses & economics, religions, education systems, media, social and legal services built to care equally for the greatest and the least of our nation?
No, they are not.
So, why do we allow this disparity?
Why don’t these national level processes and organizations right their wrongs?
There is simply not enough empathy among many of us – we seem to lack empathy on a national level – for many of us, we’ve lost touch with the real world hardships that more than a third of our nation struggles with daily.
Many of us struggle with empathy toward homelessness, addiction, poverty, hunger, lack of privilege, oppression, failing schools, poor medical care, abuse, violence, or escaping national crises because we have not lived it – (brace yourself, this is going to hurt) – not having experienced hardship is NOT an excuse to tolerate, allow or turn our heads where hardship exists.
We often lie to ourselves believing these hardships are self-induced, or could have been avoided with a just a little effort or desire – this is true for a small percent of those living with real hardships – some people just bring hardships on themselves – but truthfully, the anti-hardship deck has been stacked against large portions of our nation for generations – we want to believe our nation allows everyone with an equal chance to be whatever they want to be – the chance is certainly there, but it is not equal by any measure.
The cure is not quick or easy – we must go and learn why empathy is so important:
We must do better individually and collectively at engaging those outside of our natural surroundings.
We must spend some time away from the safety and comfort of our self-absorbed existences to meet, get to know, and embrace those living in hardship around us.
We must develop relationships with those unlike ourselves and gain a better understanding of the underlying hardships.
We must take the knowledge we gain from embracing those in need to vote smarter and better.
We must become the voice and the advocate for those ignored, discarded and forgotten.
Now, we must NOT do these things to be heroes, recognized or promoted… no, we must do these things because this is who we claim to be – this is the right way to treat our fellow human beings – these are the basics of human decency.
And finally, our efforts will teach us empathy, grace and tolerance – not because we’re better than those living with hardships, but because we cared enough to better understand the hardships – and by doing so, our nation will be less divided, less hateful, and more in line with who we claim to be.
My shoes are not your shoes, but am I willing to try your shoes?
Kevin's Thoughts 