The power to empathize

Recently, the author J.K. Rowling spoke at the commencement of Harvard.

She spoke about the power of imagination, not as in "bed time stories", but to envision a better world, to help others to improve their lot in life. And she spoke of the responsibility carried by all of us, should we choose to accept it, to live in a way that sustains not only ourselves, but others.

"Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation," Rowling said. "In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity; it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared. " via msnbc.com

J.K. Rowling also spoke of her work for Amnesty Int'l in her early twenties, about being with survivors of political exile and torture, hearing the screams of a young man told his mother was executed for his choice to speak out against injustice. She recalled a torture victim's kind words to her after she dropped him off somewhere, wishing her happiness despite his great suffering. She spoke of her awareness of realizing how inordinately fortunate she was at that young age .

The crowd went silent . The crimson flags of Harvard blew in the wind, parents and students looked up at the podium, professors strained forward in their seats, listening. And then she told the students that, with their advantages, they had the power to help others, to be a positive force for change in the lives of others, and what a difference that would make.

How inordinately fortunate we are to be in that position, those of us who do not live with political persecution, whose bellies are full, who can choose to use our imaginations not to tell bed time stories, but to create new stories in the lives of those who need our empathy.