Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Empathy in the Face of Pain

I’m relating here a real story from my weekend retreat.


I
A three-year-old child gets beaten pretty bad.
The dad, twenty, alcoholic, had lost his temper.
The child is only three. He got beaten-up. Pretty bad.

The sister of that unforgivable child beater, beyond herself, will never talk to him again.
She just can’t!

II
10 years pass. Never a word between the two of them.

III
An exercise in our retreat requires us to reconnect with our family members.
Thank or apologize to them.
Augment a bond or revive a far or lost relationship.

Grace* calls her brother. He does not answer.
Not the first time, nor the second.

Call number three, she leaves a message.

Hi Daniel*, This is Grace.
I owe you an apology.
I’m sorry I blamed you and judged you.
I was wrong.
It was unuseful.
I shut you out of my life when you probably needed me the most.
I feel sorry for all the time we’ve lost.
You are my brother.
I love you.
I want to connect with you again.
Please call me when you get this message.
Love you!

**not real names

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