July 11, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, July 11.
On this day, in 1960, a book was published. It was written by a little known, previously unpublished writer from Alabama. Her editor told her to expect that, at most, only a few thousand copies would be sold. Instead, the novel went on to sell over 30 million copies, the writer won the Pulitzer Prize, and her story was made into an Oscar winning movie. It is my favorite book. You've probably guessed that I'm talking about "To Kill a Mockingbird".
Harper Lee filled her book with characters that come alive in our imagination. There's Scout, the seven-year-old narrator; Jem, her older brother; Atticus, their lawyer father. And then there's the strange neighbor, known only as "Boo". Their town, Macon, has slandered him, judged him, and shunned him. But, in a famous quote, Atticus tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
That quote is a good description of the word "empathy" - not just feeling sorry for someone, but actually feeling what they're feeling. We see Jesus do that in John 11, as he comes to the town of Bethany after hearing of the death of his friend Lazarus. Christ is met by Mary, Lazarus' sister. She is weeping, overcome by her sorrow. And John tells us, in the Bible's shortest verse, that Jesus empathized with her, that Jesus felt her sorrow, that "Jesus wept".
And so, as in all things, Christ is our example.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org.
