@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Practising Empathic Sills

When I came to teach my students how to empathise, I discovered that they found it just as difficult as I had done. I thought some people might have a natural gift for it, but they were all useless, at the beginning. Even the women, who tend to be more empathic than men, were quite unable to consistently respond in an empathic way when I called them forward to demonstrate this skill. Despite easily understanding the concept, when it came to doing it they all failed. I was surprised at this and initially thought that what I observed was just the experience of one year group. But every year I taught, observed the same thing. Communicating empathy sounds easy, but believe me, it’s not as easy as it sounds! Try it and you will see. On a positive note, I found that if I could get them to keep practising, they would develop the skill, just as I had done. So, I encourage you to embark on a learning journey in which through practice you may take your empathic communication to a higher level. Practice!