August 11, 2026

Showing empathy
It is an act of kindness to care when others are hurting.  During times of calamity, we might have to struggle for empathy.  People are hurting all over the world tonight.  There have been three massive earthquakes in less than a month.  Each event took hundreds, if not thousands of lives.  We’ve heard about wildfires everywhere, as well as shooting incidents against strangers, more than 14 times during the past two weeks. 

It’s important to dig deep into our emotional storehouses, no matter how often our systems have been shocked.  Imagine life as we’ve always known it, disrupted.  No home.  No way to cook.  No place to store food.  No bed.  No recliner.  Not even a lamp to turn off before we go to sleep.  We sip our coffee and talk about how hard it would be. 

But what do we do?  Are we so moved we cannot go to sleep without doing something, anything, to alleviate pain?  Yesterday in Spokane, once the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes (or the piles of ashes, where home had been), I heard about an act of kindness that made me both smile and cry.  Hundreds of cars were in a grocery store parking lot.  No one was allowed to drive into the smoldering neighborhoods, so vehicles got left behind.  Someone, some kind and empathetic someone, had made signs and carefully placed one beneath the wiper blades on every single car!

The paper showed bright sunshine beaming in.  And it said, “Hang in there, Indian Trail  We LOVE you!  God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.  Ps 46:1.  That was no small task.  Someone thought of it and had to do it.  I hope they were close enough to see the smiles and tears, the hugs, laughter and joy that love can produce when people reach out to others and remind them they are never alone.   These people were getting their first hard looks at the devastating surroundings and they ended up feeling hope and love.  No matter how bad the news is, no matter how many times we have heard it before, no matter that sometimes it even seems people bring on their own troubles, we cannot forget that we are supposed to pray for people when they are hurting. 

Lord, I wish sometimes the news could be a bit happier.  Stories of heroes and firefighters rescuing children, dogs waking families and leading them out of fires.  But when the stories are sad, help me Lord to be a helping hand, a loving heart, and a voice that calls out into the darkness, reminding everyone of Your love, Your plan and Your offer of eternal life.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  James 5:16