“Empathy during agony is a portion of divinity!” (Neal A Maxwell, “The Women of God”). They say that hurt people hurt people. This is only partly true. Some hurt people end up hurting people, but not all. Jesus Christ gave us the example of what pure love really looks like by showing empathy and compassion even as He was in the most agony ever endured in the history of the world. He showed empathy during agony as He pleaded for forgiveness of the soldiers as they pounded the nails into His hands and feet. He comforted the thieves who hung with Him on the cross. He showed more concern for His mother's tears than for His own pain even as blood trickled from the wounds of the nails. It can be difficult at the best of times to withhold judgement and rush to fix the issue and just be with someone who is hurting and attempt to bear that burden with them, but when we ourselves are in more agony than they are it can seem downright impossible. As we listen to them complain about their tiny issues, we are just itching to play our trump card that we have it way worse than them and they should just get a little perspective already. We may feel that our life is already full enough of pain and we are already carrying more than we can bear and even an ounce of someone else's pain would break us, but to have compassion on others even when we are dealing with our own pain is to invite the pure love of Christ into our lives. Being filled with charity will bless us in ways that are hard for us to imagine. As we go out of our way to lighten the load of others, we will find that the Lord has blessed us with enough strength left over to manage our own burdens. I know that to be like Christ is to feel love and compassion and empathy for the suffering of others even as we suffer ourselves.
