Here are three videos you might consider watching as yet another way of engaging with this month’s theme. [Note: A Lesson in Empathy was suggested as part of thhis month’s Spiritual Exercises, and Compassion and Kinship looks at the man (and the mission) behind the book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion that was recommended.]
A Lesson in Empathy (Empathy as the Blood of Kinship)
Our lives intersect with others all day, everyday. Sometimes we know these other lives well; frequently, though, the points of connection are brief and transient. Who are these people? How might they tell their own stories? What thoughts preoccupy their minds? What joys and troubles are coursing through their feelings?
This short film, produced by the Cleveland Clinic, reminds us that empathy is our tool for beginning to know these things. It asks the question: If we could catch a glimpse of others’ stories, would we treat them differently?
Father Gregory Boyle, founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries, is an acknowledged expert on gangs, intervention and re-entry and today serves on the U.S. Attorney General’s Defending Childhood Task Force.
WorldPeace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements (Extended Trailer)
Interweaves the story of John Hunter, a teacher in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his students’ participation in an exercise called the World Peace Game. The game triggers an eight-week transformation of the children from students of a neighborhood public school to citizens of the world. The film reveals how a wise, loving teacher can unleash students’ full potential.