13 Comments
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Nancy R Poland's avatar

Mel, what a moving story. You remind us we all need to practice more empathy, to see beyond the obvious, and love the unloved. Thank you for sharing from your heart.

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Mel Bjorgen's avatar

Thank you for your kind words, Nancy.

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Jules Powellhi's avatar

May God grant me empathy, with my family, and my customers at the retail establishment I work at. Also may God grant me empathy with my co workers whose motives and actions may be hard to understand.

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Mel Bjorgen's avatar

Jules, coworkers are HARD.

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Jules Powellhi's avatar

Yep,you got that right…

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Maile Silva's avatar

Oh, Mel, you are doing such beautiful, necessary work. And thank you for sharing your stories so that we, too, can learn and grow from them. Hugs to you, friend!

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Mel Bjorgen's avatar

Thank you! This story was from a couple of years ago, and then I moved on to do what I currently do—suicide prevention. But stay tuned because the hospital work is coming back into my life and I am so excited to go where I am meant to be. 🧡

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Steve Schenewerk's avatar

Excellent. Keep up the good work. How can one be alive in this world to the goodness of God, the brokenness of people and not have empathy? Thanks for sharing your thoughts,

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Mel Bjorgen's avatar

Exactly, Steve.

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Linda Stoll's avatar

Every hospital needs a Mel. Or two. And Lord help us, if ever we needed to live an empathetic, compassionate life it'd be right now.

I love this piece, Mel. I know it's going to hit home for so many people.

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Mel Bjorgen's avatar

Thank you so much Linda 🧡

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Sarah K. Butterfield's avatar

This is such a beautiful story, Mel! And I loved your meaningful insights about empathy, and our call to use it as a tool of compassion, that we may become more and more like Jesus!

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Mel Bjorgen's avatar

Hey Sarah! Thank you! There is so much to say about this topic. I wanted to approach it from this perspective rather than criticizing books that I don’t want people to ready anyway. 😆

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