Article October 2, 1976 Issue

The Right Kind of Sympathy

MARJORIE MACARTNEY

Difficult situations, peoples and nations in turmoil—we want to help, but we are apt to feel helpless and so we let human sympathy take over. Unfortunately, human sympathy, well intended as it is, often has the effect of entrenching rather than remedying the problem.

Not human sympathy but divine sympathy is what is needed. Hear the promise of God: "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."^{Isa. 65:24;}

Aligning thought with this divine help rather than with the pathetic picture will open the way for accomplishing the relief from suffering for which we hope. We can determine the worth of our sympathy by its effects in removing fear and error and establishing love and truth in their place.

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