Are you tired? “All cared out”? As summer arrives, I imagine many of us are!
Compassion fatigue is a term often associated with donor loss in the non-profit fundraising sector. It can be a problem for the church when we think of the church as “just another tax break” rather than an extended family with whom we find rest and rejuvenation.
But there is another term more germane to the Christian life: empathy fatigue. In a recent interview on The People’s Pharmacy podcast, Dr. Allan Hamilton recommended that when we feel “all cared out,” we should:
Take breaks from heavy emotional experiences. It’s not a betrayal of care to take a break.
Allow ourselves to feel. It’s exhausting to always stifle honest emotion!
Get closer. The closer we get, the easier it is to feel.
Around the time that episode aired, headlines were dominated by the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor. One reporter noted that Pope John XXIII—the first pope to encourage priests to celebrate Mass facing the congregation and to speak in languages other than Latin so they could be understood—also happened to be the first to make pastoral visits to sick children and prisoners.
The closer we get, the more compassion we feel!
What’s fascinating about Dr. Hamilton’s list of remedies for empathy fatigue is that Jesus modeled all three of those things 2,000 years ago. He took breaks, expressed emotion unreservedly and drew close to hurting people—which is what incarnation is all about!
It’s important to take vacations from work and breaks from obligations that deplete our emotional energy; but spiritual wisdom is always paradoxical. It turns out that one cure for empathy fatigue is not to run from others’ needs, but to move toward them so our natural empathy and God’s spirit of compassion can once again fill us… and fulfill us.
Praying that you find both rest and fulfillment this summer,
—Kyle Matthews, Minister of Pastoral Care