At about the same time this year, my husband and I went to New York to view three Metropolitan Opera shows and of course to eat at the various restaurants. For me, there is no place on earth like New York to have fun and just be merry. The hustle and bustle are what for me makes New York, New York. I love being there.
Despite my cold and bronchitis, we went home happy though tired. It was only two days later after the trip did I realize my wallet which was in my overnight bag was stolen. I called the airport and police to find out what happened but to no avail. I had no answers except the credit card reports. Transactions had been made on one card. Two orders at McDonald's that were made on the same occasion and two huge Metro pass purchases were some of them. I was devastated and very upset.
I woke up in the early morning hours of the next day after this emotionally draining incident with the strangest feeling and vision. I saw two men swiping the Metro passes that they had bought with my stolen credit card. For some reason I felt compassion not anger. I believe empathy had soften my heart. I saw in their faces the eagerness to use the card because they were in need. I am not condoning the act but somehow the gift of understanding their predicament helped me overcome my anger and felt some kind of acceptance of the sad realities of life.
I also understood then how one of the parents of a child killed in the incomprehensibly merciless massacre that occurred in the Sandy Hook elementary school last year could forgive the assailant. Instead of lashing out in anger at the murderer and his parents, this parent reached out to the parents of the murderer and consoled them by saying how she could just imagine how they felt. Such benevolent forgiving act can come only from a heart that was not hardened but enlightened by her own sorrow and tragedy.
Father Tony of our church during the Xmas mass touched on why Christ became man. He explained as we celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy as proclaimed by Pope Francis to bear in mind that Christ is the epitome of this mercy. Fr. Tony further equated mercy to empathy. Christ after all made the ultimate act of coming on earth to feel what we feel and live as we did, to undergo the trials and temptations as well experience the joy and the triumphs undergone by humans.
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When I posted just a few weeks ago how we need to be representatives of God, one commentator could not understand how God almighty needs PR or public relations done for him by others. I had similar questions about the mystery of the Incarnation or Christ becoming man. Can He not just make as good? After all He is all powerful. Also can He not understand what being human is like after all He is all knowing?
But life and living and believing are all riddled with things we could not comprehend. It is a mystery what God needs or His perception of what we need. In all the Christian churches, the death of Christ is symbolized in the Crucifix which is prominently displayed in front and center of all their altars of worship. This surprises me since the beginning, the Nativity, and the end, the Resurrection, of Christ's life are both as profound if not more especially the latter than his Death. Could it be because He wants to show us during our deepest moments of darkness the He knows how we feel? Could this all knowing God after all know that it is easier for us to understand now with this ultimate example of empathy how He is able to forgive and understand our desperation? He has been there after all.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
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