Everyone deserves our empathy, and the first instinct of the heart is to do this unstintingly, to give of itself until the oceans of its compassion are drawn down dry. But we, with our finite time, energy, and attention, have only so much to give. So our empathy flows out not like an ocean but like meager rivers winding through the lowlands and the channels dictated to us by our cultural geography: by us vs them, by here vs there, by race, religion, ideology and class. Neways. Just a reminder to myself, and an apology to others for when I fail: everyone deserves our empathy.