Page 21 - COVID-19 and the Church_eBOOK_Color_07.16.2020_Neat

This is why I cringe when I hear Americans confuse,
themselves wanting to eat a second or third meal for the
day, with starvation.
Even the way we tend to categorize “physical and
mental” suffering is blurred, because rarely does one
come without the other. Often, when our minds hurt…
our bodies hurt. And, when our bodies hurt, our minds
are affected. Physical and mental suffering generally
come as an inseparable set of misery. The coronavirus
brought the whole set.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the age-old
question has resurfaced again and again, “Why do good
people suffer?” The question… in and of itself, seems to be
an implied insinuation that suffering should be reserved
for those who are perceived to be bad.

When the secular world talks about good or bad
people, they are often basing their opinion of “good” on the
idea of a person’s ability (or inability) to show compassion
and understanding toward others.

On the other hand, when church people talk about
good people, (by-in-large) they bias their perception of
“good” on an individual’s dedication to the church and
the person’s confession of faith in God.

Researchers Point To An “Empathy Switch” In People—
Empathy, which is the ability to put ourselves in
someone else’s position, is crucial to our spiritual and
social development. Lack of empathy was long thought
to be a primary trait of psychopathy. Abusive mates are
believed to possess psychopathic tendencies… with no
“empathy filter.”

But, research in recent years has pointed to the
idea of an empathy “switch.” Which means a person has