What do we hear?

Holly from Biltmore Estate

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.  (Matthew 2:16)

We read or hear that story, and it sounds terrible.  Awful.  Doesn't it?
 
Do we really hear it? 
 
Even so, we read it, and while our minds say, "That's awful," do our hearts hear the words?
 
I ask that, because I wonder if, when we hear about terrible things in life today, do only our minds hear the terrible news?  Or do our hearts hear it, too?
 
Do we only see the homeless man with our eyes, or does our heart see him, too?
 
Do we only hear the words about the abused child with our ears, or does our heart hear it, too?
 
Do we understand about the death in war, or does our heart understand it, too?
 
Do we feel the pain of the cancer patient with the sympathy of the mind, or does our heart empathize, too?
 
I know we cannot be invested completely in the pain of the world.  I know I cannot be.  I wonder, though, if I have gone the other direction?  Am I so completely un-invested that I don't hear the words that every child in Bethlehem was killed?