Empathy

Good afternoon, brethren. Good to see you here on the Sabbath day. When we drove up, Mr. Reeves was out on the parking lot doing this and looking at me. My wife was telling me that traffic this time of year for this Sabbath and the next Sabbath is probably heavy enough that it makes sense to leave a little bit earlier. We normally leave exactly one hour before services and often arrive with 30 minutes, sometimes 20 minutes to spare.

And this time it took 59 minutes. So we drove up to the parking lot. He said the sound people were already fretting a little bit. I don't know if he was fretting at all. I don't know who would be replacing me if I hadn't been here, but whoever that was probably was sweating a little bit. But probably next Sabbath it would be good to plug in even a little bit more time than normal just because of the last shopping weekend before Christmas.

Two weeks ago, on Friday evening, I logged onto the ucg.org website onto the sermon tab and pulled up the page. On the sermon page, the featured message was a message by Mr. Victor Kubik. As I began listening to the message, he recounted his family history, the fact that his mother and father had been captured by the Germans, had been made slave laborers in German factories during World War II, and at the end of World War II were liberated and as refugees came to the United States.

Victor and I have known each other for many, many, many years, and this isn't a story that I'm unfamiliar with. And so as I listened, I was listening to the details to see if any details were added to what I already knew, and at the end Victor added something I'd never heard before. He said that this particular event was the impetus for establishing the Good Works program, that because of what he and his family had been through, his concern for those that needed help and needed aid was the impetus for starting the Good Works program.

Today I'd like to speak to you about a subject related to that message. As he got into it, the message title was suffering, and he acknowledged at the very beginning that the topic was so large and had so many ramifications that it was really impossible to cover all of them in one message, and I nodded my head silently as I was listening to the message at that reality. But I'd like to talk today about a related subject. It's an important quality of the human spirit, and the subject is empathy.

You know, as we walk through life and we see others who have trials, problems, and difficulties, we have different emotions and different responses. I think all of us can sympathize with those who suffer. In fact, it's unnatural if you truly see a case of suffering not to be sympathetic. At times, we show compassion, and we show it by kindness, and we show it by words spoken to cheer an individual. We show it at times by sending a card to someone who was ill or has lost a loved one.

And at times, we even donate money to a cause to help relieve those who are going through various and sundry problems. These two traits, sympathy and compassion, are wonderful traits, but they're not empathy. Sympathy is something we express toward another being, human or animal. It doesn't make any difference. You can be very sympathetic to a human cause. You can be very sympathetic to an animal cause.

I don't know about you, but whenever on TV I see one of the ads come up from the Humane Society and I see the wretched state of the animals that are being shown, I'll shake my head and say, you know if you give birth to a son or a daughter, you have an obligation to care for them. But a pet is something that's optional. If you don't want to care for them, why buy them? Why buy? Why pay for an animal to abuse the animal?

It doesn't make sense. So, as I said, you can show sympathy toward man or beast. It really doesn't matter. You can go either way. Compassion is sharing someone else's suffering. The Good Samaritan, one of the most memorable stories in the New Testament, was given as an example of compassion. The Good Samaritan shared the suffering of a beaten man by caring for his recovery, paying for his lodging, picking up his food costs, taking care of what are the medical costs to bind this man's wounds, bring him back to recovery, and on his way.

All of us can show compassion, as I said earlier, by helping needy people, feeding the sick, sending cards of condolences, delivering food when people are ill and they're not able to take care of themselves. You know, it can be argued at times that there is hardly any difference between sympathy and compassion. And if someone makes that particular case, I wouldn't really argue it too strongly. There are very blurry lines between being sympathetic and being compassionate. But empathy differs from both.

Because empathy requires that you have walked in somebody else's shoes. It requires that you have actually been at, experienced, the same as the person who is suffering. And that places empathy in a different category than sympathy or compassion. Last week I was talking to Diane about the plans for this week's sermon. I think we were on the downhill run to Reedwood off the freeway. And she was sharing with me an account from a source that she had read about a psychologist who was doing nature nurture tests on preschoolers.

Those of you that are not familiar with the nature nurture argument, it's an age-old argument of do we do what we do because we have been taught to do it? This is nurturing. Or do we do what we do because it is our nature? And so people wonder about do you do what you do? Are your actions what they are because somebody has taught you this is the way to do it? Or is it because it is inherently who you are and it's how you do things? So the psychologist was working with preschoolers and setting up situations where preschoolers could respond in a way that would identify whether or not they had been taught this, nurtured in disbelief, or whether this was their nature.

And my wife was saying the psychologist asked a little preschool girl, why shouldn't you hit someone? So he wanted to see the response, see whether she had been taught not to do that, nurtured, or something else. And the little girl's response to the question, why shouldn't you hit someone, was to say to the psychologist, because it hurts the skin. Now here was an empathetic answer.

She didn't say because my daddy or my mommy told me not to, or my daddy or my mommy or my mommy or my daddy said it's wrong. Her response to the psychologist was because it hurts the skin. She knew what it felt like to be hit. She knew it didn't feel good. And so she could empathize, even as a preschooler, answering the psychologist's question.

Some years ago, I forget how many, the way time flies, it's probably a decade or so ago, I went to a doctor for a skin examination because I had some growths that concerned me. So I went into a dermatologist and I said, now here behind my glasses, over my ear and in my hairline, I've got some growths and I want you to look them over. He pulled my ear down and looked and he said, that's nothing to worry about. Here, I'll give you a pamphlet. He handed me a pamphlet.

He said, that's inherited. He said, it never turns into anything. But you take this pamphlet, it'll at least tell you what it is. So it had a big long medical name. But it was an inherited quality and I thought, oh, okay, I've seen pictures of my grand, my, let's see, get this right, my paternal grandmother's father, old family photos. And I remember a spot on his forehead that I always would look at as a boy and say, what is that? And then find out as I approach that age that I don't have to ask what it is. I got it. So he said, well, I can burn it off for you if you want me to. But he says, it's not other than annoying you, or maybe you have some abrasion. And I told him, well, burn it off because my glass frame rubs against it and keeps it raw. And he said, well, that's a different story. I'll take it off. But he said, it'll never go anywhere. It'll never do anything. Just before I retired, I was trying to wrap up loose ends before I went on to Medicare. And I told Diane, I said, you know, it's been a while. I think I need to go in before I make that transition and have one more skin examination. So I went in. They looked all over everywhere, but they looked especially at my face. And then took a whole series of photographs. And when the doctor came back, he said, I want you to look at this photograph. And I had a small, somewhat translucent, translucent flesh mole that had never caught my attention because my mother had a couple of them.

And he said, I want you to look at this photograph. And so he blew up the photograph, and I looked at it. And he said, see those little black specks in there? And I said, yeah, I do. He says, they're not supposed to be there. And he said, I want to take a biopsy and find out what we're dealing with here. And I'll get back to you when the biopsy results come back. And when he got the results back, he said, the biopsy says that's a basal cell carcinoma, and we will need to surgically remove it. And so I scheduled the surgery, and the cancerous tissue was removed. This last October, Diane and I went out to lunch with a couple, and we were having the normal, the normal introductory kind of conversation. Where are you from? What's your background? And where are you working? And so on. And in the course of it, the lady in the other couple said to me that she would appreciate it if we would add her to our prayers, because she was recovering from facial skin cancer surgery. And I looked at her and I said, I'll be more than happy to pray for you. I can empathize with where you are. It was one of those situations where it wasn't just a matter of I wouldn't want to be where you are, and I will pray for you. I'm sorry you are where you are. I will pray for you. It was a case of saying I know where you are because I have been where you are, and I am happy to pray for you. I've given all these illustrations and taken the time to give these illustrations as a foundation for going further into the subject of empathy. But I'd like to give more illustrations before we go to the scriptures that punctuate what we're saying. Empathy has a very valuable byproduct. Empathy is probably one of the greatest producers of passion for a mission that can exist. When I listened to Victor Kubik's sermon that I mentioned at the beginning of my message, I have understood for many years the passion that he and Beverly have for the Good Works program. It was nice to see him put a bow on the package and tie it neatly in my mental image to understand that it was empathy-driven. I have been there. I know what it's like. I have lived there. And as a result, I have a passion to help those who are where I have been.

This is empathy. Denny Luecker and I were friends for many years. I used to, and I say this tongue and cheek just for its dramatic effect, I used to sorely resent Denny. In college, we had to do morning exercises. 6 a.m. every morning out on the track. Denny was my squad leader. Nothing I hated more than having to get up at 6 a.m. and run track. And Denny was always bubbly and bright and enthusiastic. And I thought, it's too early to be bright, energetic, and enthusiastic. Put a cork in it!

But we ran track every morning, and we all survived it. And over the years, Denny and I have grown while he was alive to enjoy one another, share many experiences, all the way down to the years that we spent as United started, and Denny and Leanne moved back up to Seattle, and we lived there in Seattle together at the same time.

Denny had a hallmark, and everyone that knew Denny knew the hallmark. Denny had a passion for working with alcoholics. He had a passion for working with the families of people who had been affected by alcoholism. And his passion in that area was so strong that it spilled over to the fact that he had a passion to help people who suffered from abuse over a wide range of different dysfunctions.

Denny was very open to share that the reason that he had that passion is because he came from a family affected by the problems that he sought to help people overcome and move out of.

This was empathy. So as I look at these men and what became their hallmarks, or what have been their hallmarks, in both cases, empathy was the producer of the passion for the mission they took upon themselves. You know, brethren, when you look at empathy, compassion, and sympathy, what commonly divides among them is that empathy gives you a passion for an entire field of endeavor, and sympathy will give you concern for individuals and individual cases, but not necessarily a desire to immerse yourself permanently in that particular area.

I've had more than one assignment where it fell my lot to deal with either severe alcohol abuse or severe drug abuse. I came from a family as polar opposite from Denny's as it's possible to have. One side of my family were Mormons, and so there was no alcohol, there was no caffeine, coffee or tea, or any soft drinks that contained caffeine. And so they not only did not consume any alcohol, they went all the way past that by quite some distance.

The other half of my family just simply didn't have alcohol as a part of daily life. It was never a thought one way or the other. Once in a great while, a summer picnic or something of that sort of beer came out, but it simply was not a part of the fabric of life. I ended up, nonetheless, in situations where I had to work very intimately with families who suffered from both alcohol and drug abuse. I have been with and traveled with and stood beside people as they signed themselves into drug treatment or alcohol treatment centers. I have made the clergy visits to those centers during the time that they were there. I have worked with staff. I've even served as an interventionist in helping families bring about a change in life by the abuser within the family. But you know what? I could never honestly claim to be empathetic, because I had never been there, had no desire to be there, was very grateful that I had never been there. But I understood all along that I simply did not have the capacity for empathy because I had never been at that address. These things produce a difference. As I said, Denny had a passion driven by empathy.

I had a concern for individuals that I cared about and took the time and energy to help those individuals and families. But I never desired to make this my life's mission. This is the difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy quite often gives you a passion for a field of endeavor. Sympathy can give you a desire and a concern to help an individual or a family who are going through an incident in their life. Now, I've spent all this time explaining the mechanics of empathy for two critical reasons. One of those reasons relates to God, and the other relates to our mission. So let's look at those two reasons. They're very different, and yet they're not different when we come down to the end of it all. But one deals with our God, and the other deals with our mission. So let's look at the first reason. You and I have a God who can empathize.

Not sympathize. Not be compassionate. We have a God who can empathize. We have a God who can empathize.

It's interesting when you do a Bible study. We're going to turn to Hebrews 4 and verse 15.

But I've looked at probably 20 different translations of Hebrews 4 and verse 15, and there's only one translation out of all the translations I have been able to find that has interpreted correctly the proper wording for Hebrews 4 and verse 15.

And that's the new international version. Across the board, translations translate this particular verse using the word sympathy or sympathize or some variant of it. The new international version of Hebrews 4 and verse 15 says the following, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses.

But we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet he did not sin. The language of the old King James is old language. It isn't current vernacular.

The old King James says that we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. When you go to Vincent's word studies and you look at Vincent's comments on Hebrews 4.15 and the old King James wording, Vincent says the following, only here, that is Hebrews 4.15, and in one other place, also in Hebrews, is this particular phrase found. And Vincent has this to say about the original Greek, this is more, and it's the phrase, it's one Greek word that is translated, touched with the feeling. He said, this is more than knowledge of human infirmity. It is feeling it by reason of a common experience. Let me say that again. The Greek word, this is more than knowledge of human infirmity. It is feeling it by reason of a common experience. You can see then when the new international version says, we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize, why they have put the right word in there? God is not sideways from all of this, being sympathetic about it. He's not sideways in it saying, I am compassionate to your problems. He's dead in the center of it. I have been there.

God the Father gave us an advocate who has been there and knows how it feels.

Jesus Christ. God and His plan and in His care and in His love for mankind gave us a member of the Godhead who has been there. You know, whenever you feel distant from God in your prayers, the problem is not God's. The problem is yours. If you feel distant from God and His care for you, you need to read your Bible more carefully and more deeply. You've never been as thirsty as Jesus Christ.

You don't know what it's like to go 40 days without water. Take your thirstiest event. It's laughable by comparison. I look back at when I have been so thirsty I couldn't see straight, and by comparison with Christ, it's pathetic. You think He doesn't understand extreme thirst? You've never been as hungry as Christ. The end of the day of atonement, that's like turning the key in the starter on a 100-mile trip. The motor's running. You really haven't been anywhere. One whole day. It doesn't even remotely compare to 40 days. Being on literally the verge of self-consumption. The body is built in such a way that you reach the place where it devours itself. It's organs. Not just the muscles and the tissue, but the vital organs. Christ understands what it's like to take a beating. In fact, He understands what it's like to take a beating way past the beatings that most will experience in life. He knows what it's like to be beaten nearly to death and then be put to death. We're in a day and time where people are ugly toward one another, especially in schools and in the electronic media. If you have a problem with bullying and name-calling, welcome to the fraternity.

Christ understands name-calling and bullying. He understands having to run for his life or to stand there and die. He knows what it's like to be hated and to be held in contempt. You know, the point of the matter is, and I guess we would really have no way of wrapping our minds around an eternal God who knows something five or six hundred years in advance. I don't know that five or six hundred years means what it does to you and I. But in Isaiah chapter 53, one of the great prophetic verses about the coming Messiah, one that we read at Passover season, Isaiah 53.3, he is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we didn't esteem him.

You go to God if somebody's calling you names or you've been bullied. He's not going to sympathize with you. He's going to empathize with you.

He's going to say, I know what it's like to be bullied. I know what it's like to be called names. I know what it's like to be hated. I know what it's like for people to treat you as a person. He knows what it's like to be single. He knows what it's like to be single without any hope of ever having a mate or children. We drive through our community and around underpasses and freeway exits. We see tents here and there. He understands where they are.

He knows what it's like to be homeless. He made the statement, Matthew 8, and verse 20, He said to his disciples in Matthew 8 and verse 20, And the Lord said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. I don't own a home. I don't have a place that belongs to me. I am at the mercy of the courtesy of people who say, Would you like to sleep the night in my home? And so he said, the foxes, they have a den. The birds, they've got a nest. I have no place that I can call my own to lay my head. So, brethren, as I said earlier, it is nice to have sympathy. It's a good thing. I mean, after all, in some cases, the best that we're able to offer someone is sympathy, and in that case, it is deeply appreciated. It's nice to have compassion. But we need to stop on occasion and understand that God wanted someone at the God level to have empathy. Not just at the human level. God wanted someone at the God level to have empathy. And Jesus Christ is capable of empathy at the highest level. You know, it's very natural to care about your own. It's very natural to care about your mother, your father, your sisters, your brothers, your grandparents. If you're old enough, your grandchildren. It isn't as natural to care about people that you don't know. It definitely is not natural to care about people that wouldn't give you the time of day, or if they did give you the time of day, it would be only to abuse you in some fashion or another. And yet Jesus Christ's experiences with empathy provided us a God who can be empathetic toward man, who love Him and don't love Him. His comment of sadness when He said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you in, as a hen gathers in her chicks, and you would not let me. This was a concern for a city that was going to take his life. A city where, at times, he had to tell his disciples, Go down to the feast, and I'll come later, so that people will not know I'm there, because I'm not popular there. I am persona non grata in Jerusalem. His experiences gave him the ability to empathize even with those who hate him. Now we come to a component that, on the surface, may not seem to be directly connected or related to the subject of empathy. And so you need to bear with me, because it is intimately connected to the topic, but it's not necessarily going to appear so at the beginning. I want you to turn back to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12. There's a fairly lengthy portion in this chapter written by Paul. And it looks like probably the best place to jump into it is verse 12. For as the body is one and has many members, so all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, because I'm not a hand, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?

If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if there were all one member, where would the body be?

Okay. We're individuals.

It's almost comedic at times when you read that. Paul put it in such a way that the absurdity of it all is what makes it memorable. Just a picture of an ear saying, I don't want to hear, I want to see. I retire from being an ear. I'm an eyeball or I'm gone. The whole thing is nonsensical enough to be memorable. But he says, we're all different. We are all different. And yet we're all part of one body.

Life has dealt each of us a different hand. And we have all suffered in some way during this life.

And that's the key element I want to bring forward from this illustration.

I took the time at the beginning to make the point about empathy, that Victor could empathize with the hungry and the refugee, because that's an area of life that he has suffered. And that Denny could be empathetic with those affected by alcohol abuse and dysfunction, because that's an area of life that he experienced. I have a simple question for you that you can mow on. I don't know that you'd necessarily have all your answers mentally at this time, but it's something you can think about. Who can you empathize with? Not asking who you can sympathize with, not asking who you can be compassionate to, but who can you empathize with?

Have you lost a job because of your obedience to the Sabbath and the Holy Days?

If you have, you have an area where you can empathize with somebody who has lost their means of support because they stood for their convictions. Have you suffered through a divorce?

Then you truly understand at the heart level what it feels like, and you can empathize with someone who has been through divorce.

Have you lost a child to childhood illnesses? Then you can share intimately the burden that someone has when they lose a child.

I and my family, I still remember two images. Well, I remember three images, but the one that is relevant to what we're talking about right now. I still remember the image of a young boy sitting in the back seat of a car with a motor running and watching an adult man run around the front of the car into an apartment. I remember a woman standing at the window in the apartment washing dishes. I remember them coming back out, getting in the car, driving off, and while the car was idling on an upgrade, looking back at a solid wall of water. And I know what it's like, as a result of the Vanport Flood, to be both homeless and to lose every possession you own except the clothes on your back.

I can empathize. What have you been through?

You know what, brethren? We have all been through something.

Our trials, our sufferings, have not all been on the same point. And as a result, within any congregation of any size at all, there are within the walls people who can truly empathize with a wide range of human struggles and human sufferings.

Widows and widowers can share the experience of losing the one they love most. Those of us who have stood bedside while a mother or a father died can stand beside someone else who is losing the one they love and empathize.

Every single member of the Church of God can empathize with someone over some thing. So I read the scripture in 1 Corinthians 12, because just as we are different parts of the body, so also we have suffered different challenges in life. And as it were, it makes some of us eyes, some of us ears, some of us noses, some of us fingers, some of us toes, and some of us other parts of the body, metaphorically speaking.

I remember walking—I remember when I was in college on the visiting program being told to go into London because there was a lady in distress.

Bob Faye at that point was the lead man. I was the second man on the visit. We went into London, went to the apartment. I was rather clueless at the time what all was going on. Bob, because of the background that he had had, understood very clearly what was going on and took the necessary steps to help the lady in a way that I simply not only could not empathize at the point in time, could not even fully understand.

Okay, we've covered a lot of ground. So the question is, where are we?

We know that empathy means that you have suffered with someone.

That as they say, this is where I am and this is what I've been through, you can look back at the person and say, I have gone through the same experience. We have covered the fact that life, when it gives us the chance to be empathetic, can also provide a passion to help those who suffer in the same way. It has been fascinating to me over my lifetime as a minister to see the number of people who wanted to get into the health care field, not the physical health care, mental health care. It didn't matter which branch, but more commonly in the mental health care field, and driven to do so because of empathy. I have lived this. I want to help others who I know are going to live this so that their life may be better than my life.

We have been reminded up to this point in time that we have a Savior who can empathize with us in all things.

That all the human temptations, all the thoughts that go through the human mind, all of the challenges that we look at and say, should I, shouldn't I, should I not go that way? There isn't anything that you can ask in your mind that our Savior hasn't also faced.

And it would be utterly completely foolish to believe that it emotionally affected Him any less, and it affects any of us. The Scripture says He was tempted in all ways like we are, yet without sin.

As we look into our lives, we then see as a result of the help from 1 Corinthians 12 that all of us have a way that we can empathize with someone who is going through suffering.

All of that brings us to a Scripture that gives people problems.

And it gives people problems unless they can see the long view and then couple that long view with empathy.

It also brings us to the second reason that I took the time to give you the examples and the illustrations and then give you the second level from the life of Jesus Christ. Because this has to do with our mission.

And so the second reason, brethren, is I gave these examples to help you better understand James 1, verse 2, in the context of our mission. To understand God's long view as it regards empathy, we need to look at a Scripture we all know, but most don't really grasp its importance as it relates to God's plan and the development of empathy within his body of believers. The Scripture, when we turn to it, is instantly recognized by all of us. James 1 and 2.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Most people don't understand the Scripture. Some are not too sure what it's getting at. And the carnal think it's absolutely crazy. First off, let's start with a reality check. You can keep your finger here, but I want you to turn back to Hebrews once more. In this case, Hebrews 12.

In Hebrews 12, the simple piece of common-sense observation is made in verse 11, which says, Now, no chastening seems to be joyful at the present, but grievous.

And you know, that's all the farther I need to go in helping you understand James 1.2. Hebrews makes a very simple point that all of us, we don't have to think about it. We say, yeah, no normal person likes to suffer. It hurts.

The first Scripture, James 1 and 2, isn't stupid. Nobody enjoys it at the time it's happening. If you do, there's a word that describes you. It's called masochism, taking delight in suffering. And that's abnormal. And you're not. So, like I said, this is not something that any of us wants to go through. No trial or suffering is pleasant at the time we have to go through it. The first Scripture, James 1 and 2, counted all joy when you fall into various trials. It's talking about reflecting upon the outcome.

It's not talking about the moment. It is talking about reflecting upon the outcomes.

I have thanked God many times over for some of my worst trials.

I can guarantee you, brethren, I was not thanking Him while I was going through them. But I treasure them. I treasure them as valuable beyond most things that I have, in hindsight. When the pain is gone, when the trial is over, when the fruits are there, and when you can reflect objectively on what it has produced in your life, they can be things that you are grateful for for the rest of your life.

One aspect of that is your own personal growth. But that's not where the focus is. I'm talking about mission.

One of the areas where you can count it all joy to have gone through trials is it gives you the ability to empathize with and to help someone who is going through the same thing. I can not only feel for them, I can feel with them.

I can empathize. I really do know what they're going through. And all of that has provided a heightened level of desire to do something about it.

Do you reflect on a regular basis on the fact that we are currently in school? We're all in school. Some of us have been in school a long time. Some of us have been in school a short time. And some have been in school in between those, but we're all in school. I read Hebrews 4.15 that says, We do not have a high priest who cannot empathize. What was his position? High priest.

What's your future job description?

A kingdom of priests.

We have a high priest. His office is already secured. You and I are in school. And when we graduate, we will become members of a kingdom of priests. Whether it is the high priest or whether it is the lesser priests, what makes them most valuable is the quality described in Hebrews 4.15. That they can be touched with the infirmities of those who seek their help.

You know what, brethren?

Christ our high priest wants company. And you're it. Christ our high priest wants company. Company that can help mankind in the same way that he helps mankind.

Empathically. Touched by their infirmities.

We all know because this is our address right now, we all know what it's like to have those struggles to read all the things we read and understand all the things that it's saying and yet say, well, but your spirit and your eternal.

So we'll create our own barriers.

Yes, I read what it says. You are human. Yes, I read that you were tested in all ways as we are. Yes, I understand all that, but, but, but.

You and I are going to face the same thing, millenially.

When Daniel describes the destiny of the saints where he says they will shine like the stars of the firmament, people will say, yeah, yeah, but, but you're not like me.

But we will all have the same credential. And that credential will be, I have been where you are. And I know because I walked in those same shoes what you are struggling with.

So here's the sum of it all. As I said, we're in school. We're being schooled to be instructors. We are being schooled to become a kingdom of priests. We're being schooled to help those millenially and beyond.

The trials that you and I have and the sufferings that we have today allow us to join Christ under his rule as the high priest serving as a kingdom of priests who can empathize with the sufferings of mankind.

When you and I take up our position in the kingdom of God, we can say to those who are given to us to guide and help, I know where you are because I have been where you are.

Brethren, I hope this helps you to better understand the value of our trials during the days of our life as we go through them and further the tremendous importance of the product that they produce. That empathy which allows us to care for and serve others in the most passionate way.