We each have our individual point of view which is of course limited by only what we see. Wouldn’t it wonderful if we could see things from a universal point of view…like God has?

“Vantage Point” was a 2008 American political action movie which focused on an assassination attempt on the President of the United States. The story is told from the vantage points of several eye witnesses: a Spanish police officer, a Secret Service Agent, the President and an American tourist. It was a clever attempt to make us realize that not everyone takes in what happens in front of them the same. Each has their own points of view.

Finding people, nevertheless, with our same point of view allows us to establish groups (eg. political parties, religious organizations). What draws individuals to a certain faith or political group is a common perspective.

However, while it is constructive to have people come together with the same point of view, these distinct outlooks can actually become a source of friction between groups. People with no ability to tolerate others, can clash with people whose view is different from their own.

Wouldn’t we all be better off if we could somehow reach outside our personal vantage point? If we tried, what would it look like?

Two possibilities come to mind: empathy and compassion. 

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Psychologist Marshall B. Rosenberg wrote this about empathy: “It is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing. Instead of offering empathy, we often have a strong urge to give advice or reassurance and to explain our own position or feeling. Empathy, however, calls upon us to empty our mind and listen to others with our whole being.“

Empathy is a way for us to expand our point of view to include others. It creates a community of a different, probably healthier nature.

Another way to expand our point of view is through compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others:

The name William Booth might sound familiar to some of us. One night, he could not sleep, so he went for a walk. He walked down to the poor side of London and there, in the cover of darkness, Booth saw the impoverished and beaten half lives that existed in that setting. The rain was beating down on some of London’s outcasts who were sleeping near the curbsides. Out of that nightmarish experience came the dream and the reality of the Salvation Army. Had Booth not left the security of his own home, expanding his point of view, he might never have become aware of the needs of the homeless masses. 

While it is impossible to view all things in life the same as others do, are there not enough common areas to bring us together? We all have the same human parts (eg.eyes, ears, noses). We all experience pain and disappointments. We all experience loss, getting older, body aches, and finally death. To close oneself off from learning from others, keeps us locked in our own thoughts about life. Being open to new ideas, struggling to understand them , allows us to evaluate them and maybe even embrace them. The American Declaration of Independence put this idea of great value in everyone this way “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–“

William Blake, English poet, painter, and printmaker who has become a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art wrote “The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.” Although we can’t have the precise point of view that someone else has, nevertheless we can react with empathy and compassion to others who are in our lives. 

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