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Kerissa Poss's avatar

Hey Lindsay, I'm still in Chapter 2, but slowly trucking along. It's currently my bathroom book: I'm consuming it where I can dispose of waste... I'm reading through your posts after I finish each section. Thank you for the work you're doing. It can be discouraging and exhausting to be in a space where characters that are the antithesis of who God is are exalted (looking at #47) while characters that are exactly who God is and calls us to be are presented as sinful and "toxic." I was literally told about this book in a conversation where I was sharing with a believer friend about my discovering that I'm an empath and an HSP. I was told that what I'm calling empathy is actually me not trusting God. So as I unpack this book, I'm looking for my blind spots but also very aware that a lot of this rhetoric is based in Stuckey's own feelings that seem rooted in indoctrination and maybe a sprinkling of self-righteous "Christianity."

Looking forward to reading more of your posts as I move through this with you! 💕

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Lindsay Bruehl's avatar

Kerissa, you’ve inspired me to get back to the book. There is more to say. You are

right. This book belongs in the bathroom with the waste.

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Jeannie Prinsen's avatar

Right off the bat – she says "empathy is just an emotion." That's simply NOT TRUE. Empathy is an ability. I will be following everything you post on this! ❤️

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Lindsay Bruehl's avatar

Thank you, Jeannie. I feel energy writing these posts bc I know you are reading along and supporting me. I’m glad you had sent me the post the other day reminding me empathy is not an emotion. That helped me not gloss over the fact she said that! I’ll post more tomorrow. I’m looking forward to this conversation.

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Jeannie Prinsen's avatar

I just started Richard Rohr's new book The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom in an Age of Outrage and his introduction has some great thoughts on empathy. I'll send you the quote (as if you could stop me, right?? 😄)

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