Deep Something

Sympatheia — The Web of Our Shared Humanity

September 3, 2025September 1, 2025 B. John 2593 Views 1 Comment Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, sympatheia, Pope Leo XIV, compassion, interdependence, Social Justice, mortality, interconnectedness, Stoicism

There are moments when the illusion of standing alone falls away. Sitting at my mother’s bedside, I watched nurses adjust her blanket, a caregiver whisper encouragement, and my sister lean in to hold her hand. In that small room I saw a truth that philosophy and faith have long tried to teach. Our lives are braided together. The Stoics had a name for this: sympatheia, the recognition that we are bound together in a single web.

Marcus Aurelius urged himself to “meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe.” To him, nothing existed by itself. A hand could not live apart from the body, nor could a person live apart from others. Epictetus called it being a “citizen of the universe.” To forget this bond was to forget who we are.

In our own time, Pope Leo XIV put it this way: “The earth will rest, justice will prevail, the poor will rejoice, and peace will return, once we no longer act as predators but as pilgrims. No longer each of us for ourselves but walking alongside one another.” The Pope’s words echo the Stoics, calling us to remember that the fate of one is tied to the fate of all.

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Upcoming Administrative Council Meeting at Church

August 7, 2008August 10, 2015 326 Views 0 Comments Resolution, methodism, methodist, Palma Ceia United Methodist Church, Social Justice, Palma Ceia

I have previously published a resolution I intend to introduce at the next Administrative Council meeting at my church here in Tampa (Palma Ceia United Methodist). I was going to introduce it in June, but the meeting was canceled. It’s now been rescheduled for August 18, so I should be able to attend.

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A Resolution on Social Justice for My Methodist Church

June 24, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 1296 Views 1 Comment Tampa, Homosexuality, Race, Racism, Non-discrimination, Palma Ceia United Methodist Church, Sexual Orientation, Social Justice

I have prepared a resolution on social justice to be introduced at the next meeting of the Administrative Board of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church here in Tampa. It will create an inclusive statement of non-discrimination. However, it goes a bit further. In an on-line conversation I had with a new acquaintance, he made a statement that caught my interest. He said, “People don’t have to pay a price for discrimination against gay people.” I believe this is a true statement. You can’t really change how people feel, but you can change how they behave in public through laws and through action. People who make racists statements pay a price. If they are business owner, they may be boycotted by people who don’t beleive in racism. At work, they may be ostricized, and it can affect their potential opportunities. But for the most part, people don’t pay a price for discriminating against homosexuals. My resolution requires the church to put its money where its mouth is.