by Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J.
When we read this article, the Mid-Autumn Festival will be just a few days away. I must say this is a favourite Chinese festival of mine. The weather will start to turn a bit cooler after that, which is a welcoming change for me. But it is the romantic moon and the mooncakes that capture my heart, so to speak.
Mooncakes are delicious to me, although I only allow myself to enjoy them for a couple of days. We all know that consuming too many mooncakes is not only a physique issue but with health consequences. Let me not name them here lest that become a damper to the festive mood.
But the moon is totally different. It does not pose any health hazards. The beauty of the mid-autumn moon or harvest moon has inspired many Chinese poets over the centuries to laud its full spherical shape and extra-luminous quality. Fairies and goddesses are placed in the Lunar Palace, which have sustained imaginations for the possibility of life on the moon throughout generations.
Imagination is such a wonderful human faculty that inspires not only art, but also scientific inventions and the building of relationships. Yes, relationship! You imagine how you can develop your different relationships with whom you desire to be your friends, potential lover, colleagues at work, and mission collaborators, etc. All of these require some sort of imagination with varying intensities, which will, in turn, arouse motivation and passion to engender their development.
Hence, we imagine how the mid-autumn moon can be so bright, even at its brightest time of the entire year. Whether or not that is objectively true does not matter. When the lunar face is at its fullest while hanging at a lower altitude, it appears brighter and larger than on other days in a clear night sky. However, we know from science that the moon does not generate its brightness but reflects from the Sun, the only source of light for the moon and our Earth. The twinkling stars alone can hardly light up the night sky.
The reflected brightness may be analogous to our empathy for our partners in dialogic conversations. I have often said that dialogue without empathy is less effective and more difficult to achieve its desired goals. Without empathy, dialogue risks becoming parallel monologues, mere intellectual exchanges, or emotional interactions. But dialogue is better when it is an encounter of two or more parties. Several philosophers have expressed beautifully on the concept of encounter, such as Martin Buber, but I should better not expound on them here. What is beautiful about an encounter is when the parties involved are engaging with their minds, hearts and spirits.
Empathy is the means through which an encounter can take place between parties. Like the moon reflecting the light from the sun, intellectual understanding and affective alignment are really reflections of the originating partner in communication. They do not belong to the party applying empathy, nor do they amount to endorsement of the understanding, belief, and feelings of the other party. Nevertheless, empathy can help us better understand and appreciate the influential context and factors, as well as the inner worlds of the partners in communication.
Empathy, if correctly aligned, can certainly allow a deeper connection between partners. Connection is essential for the fruits of the dialogue to be attained in the long term. What we are witnessing in our world today, especially in global politics, is the breakdown of dialogue when empathy has no place or is not valued. An influential and tremendously wealthy figure in the West claims that he does not believe empathy has any value at all.
When you come to admire the mid-autumn moon in a few days, please also consider trying empathy in your developing or difficult relationships. May these relationships become beautiful full moons to you and your partners!
+ Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J.
