Do you live is a society with rigid social castes and classes? In these situations everyone knew where they belonged in the order and considered it their destiny to remain there. Fortunately these absolute barriers to upward mobility are becoming rare. Yet even without the rigid assignments you cannot assume that you live in a classless society. You still know who is above and below you, and they know it too. Do you try to obtain favor with those above you and hold yourself aloof from those below?

Do you want to hear my voice? I promised that you would, and my motivation for you to hear me is greater than yours. Since I know everything, you can ask me anything, but some inquiries are better than others. Do you want to have detailed plans about your own future? Do you want to have special insider knowledge of future events such as the end of the ages? What about definitive answers to long-standing doctrinal disputes? Don’t make this difficult for me. Don’t ask me to give you a burden that you can’t bear. I have so many other things to tell you.

A teacher asked a student what he was drawing and he said a picture of God. But, the teacher replied, no one knows what God looks like. They will when I’m done said the student. This expression of overconfidence is amusing, but there is a serious principle behind it. Do you see your own life as drawing a picture of me? Those who observe your actions will consider whether they give an accurate picture of me, or will draw accurate or inaccurate conclusions about me based on them. What kind of picture are you drawing? When you are done, will people know what I look like?

Do you know people that you would describe as sensitive? Are they discerning of the hurts and needs of other people, or does their sensitivity extend only to things that bother them? Empathy, sympathy, and compassion are highly regarded qualities in every faith tradition, including your own. But in them all it is implied that they extend outward to others rather than being consumed internally. If you can apply these qualities toward others more than yourself then the more sensitive you are the better you are able to discern and minister to the needs of others.