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Fighting the Empathy Famine: Listening and Learning
A little honestly here: I’m overdosed on listening to partisan pundits. I try to wrap my head around their perspectives and spot the strengths and flaws of their thinking, but I’ve retreated for a while. Instead, I focus my energy on four things: Listening to and comforting those I know whose spirits are crushed, without minimizing their experiences (Prov. 18:13-14). By listening, I have learned of the constant stress my black friend and co-worker feels as she raises her son and daughters. She shared that in the last two weeks she got lost in an upscale neighborhood in my suburb north of Dallas. Late for an appointment, she asked a…
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Why Thinkers Should Feel More
Are you a thinker or a feeler? If you’re a thinker like me, is growing into more of a feeler something you might want to be more intentional about? If you’re a feeler, how might you inspire a thinker to grow into more of a feeler? Or is that something we can change? Before we go any further, what does it means to be a thinker? According to the …you know you’re a thinker if, when it comes to decision making,… …you make decisions with your head and want to be fair. …you like to find the basic truth or principle to be applied, regardless of the…
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You Are Emotionally Contagious: How you can infect others for good
We are sitting at Turner Field in Atlanta, watching the Braves take on the Washington Nationals. A batter steps up to the plate, a lanky left-hander, tightly circling his bat. Two nights earlier he hit two home runs out of four times at the plate. Atlanta’s best pitcher eyes him over the rim of his glove, then winds up and throws. The batter pops it up impossibly, third-deck high. We let out a whoop. And everyone around us turns and stares. We are cheering for Adam LaRoche, son of one of my best friends and first baseman for Washington, surrounded by Brave fans who don’t take too kindly to…
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Empathy! Can we succeed in politics or ministry without it?
The culture is changing. Fast. Modern to Postmodern. And so is the way we connect with people, whether in politics or ministry. If we want people to trust and follow Mitt, Barak or Jesus it's no longer sufficient, in most cases, to simply present information/truth claims. People. Want. Empathy. What does that mean and how do we deliver?
