Episode 229: What About Empathy?

At Last She Said It

Cynthia Winward

Religion & Spirituality, Feminism, Motherhood, Ldswomen, Spirituality, Lds, Thechurchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints, Mormonwomen, Religion, Marriage, Mormon, Faith

5 • 900 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ ? minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How can we know if we’re getting it right when it comes to meeting others with empathy? “Empathy is a tool of compassion,” writes Brene Brown. “We can respond empathically only if we are willing to be present to someone’s pain. If we’re not willing to do that, it’s not real empathy.” We’re living now in a time and society where people actually talk about the sin of empathy. But for followers of Jesus—charged to mourn with and comfort others—how can being present to someone else’s pain ever wear the title of “sin?” In Episode 229, Cynthia and Susan take on empathy, exploring this hot-button word and a few of the familiar ideas related to it. Why does such a simple sounding principle sometimes feel clumsy or complicated when we try to put it into practice?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever heard in a scripture story, though, with Jesus healing someone, have you ever heard that a person was healed because of the faith of their friends?
0:14.6	Empathy, right?
0:16.4	If that is an empathy, tearing out the roof.
0:19.5	And I just think, what a visual that is of empathy, of having friends mourn with those who mourn and had compassion, right?
0:29.2	Because the empathy moved them to compassion to do something.
0:36.8	Hello, I'm Susan Hinkley.
0:39.7	And I am Cynthia Winward.
0:41.5	And this is at last she said it.
0:43.5	We are women of faith discussing complicated things.
0:46.4	And the title of today's episode is, What About Empathy?
0:50.8	What about empathy, Susan?
0:53.1	I wonder why we're having a conversation about empathy right now, Cynthia.
0:57.9	Gee, I can't even imagine.
1:00.4	Can't even imagine.
1:01.9	But we're going to get there.
1:03.0	And hopefully our listeners come along with us as we dissect it.
1:06.9	Yeah, it feels like a complicated topic in new ways, I guess, to me.
1:13.7	Yeah, new ways.
1:15.0	Empathy has suddenly become a hot button issue, and I never really, I never really knew that it could be or would be, I guess.
1:22.8	Right?
1:23.9	Yeah.
1:24.5	How could you take something that is so Jesus-y and make it controversial? I don't know,
	...

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