Pain, tunnel vision, and the limits of helping
- Why do some people get through the same pain while others end their lives?
The discussion moves to pain, tunnel vision, and the limits of helping: a toothache analogy for pain obliterating logical thought, the brother's hospital conversation, and the point that you can reach out but the person must accept the resource. A host urges intentional small gestures -- a phone call, Thanksgiving together -- while stressing that family guilt ('what else could I have done?') is misplaced because the choice was not theirs.
More on Compassion
-
Dear LFTP: the sister's belongings in the garage
- My sister's belongings are still in my garage and starting to smell — what should I do?
A letter from a woman whose formerly incarcerated sister's belongings — stored in her garage 'for a couple of weeks' — have sat there for months and started to smell, while the sister won't communicate or take responsibility.
From No. 485 · Steadfast
-
Dear LFTP: the bedwetting friend and bedwettingstore.com
- How can I persuade my friend to get help for his bedwetting without embarrassing him?
Dear LFTP: 'Concerned friend in Michigan' asks how to persuade a friend who wets the bed to get help without embarrassing him.
From No. 279 · 20 Things for 20-Somethings
-
Pope style: the miscarriage post and loving people like Jesus
- How should believers share hard theological truths with grieving people?
Boova shares that a Facebook post wrecked him: friends suffering miscarriages after fertility treatments were told by another commenter that their unborn children are in hell.
From No. 270 · The Evangelical Label
-
Dear LFTP: Riley and the dying rescue animals
- How can a friend tell Riley, who rescues terminal animals and is crushed each time one dies, that she should stop taking them in?
A listener asks how to tell his friend Riley, who rescues terminal animals and breaks down each time one dies, to stop taking them in.
From No. 246 · Nine Sins the Church Is Okay With