'Thin space' on Iona My prayer list is rather jammed today. Deaths, surgery, debilitating diseases, lack of purpose, new baby, studies, chronic pain, cancer—that pretty much sums it up. I’m sure your list looks similar. There’s nothing extraordinary about it, and yet there is everything extraordinary because behind the problem is a person hurting and longing for peace.
I’ve been wondering what enables me (or anyone) to have empathy for people in situations that are not part of my experience. I don’t have MS, pain or cancer; my worries as a new mother are only happy memories; I’ve had plenty to do in my life. So what is it that draws me in to pray for these people?
Perhaps empathy comes from a longing for God that dwells in all of us. Once in a while we get a glimpse of it; we float into the ‘thin space’; we feel the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is fleeting, but it is enough to connect us to others who are suffering and yet longing.
I’ve been wondering what enables me (or anyone) to have empathy for people in situations that are not part of my experience. I don’t have MS, pain or cancer; my worries as a new mother are only happy memories; I’ve had plenty to do in my life. So what is it that draws me in to pray for these people?
Perhaps empathy comes from a longing for God that dwells in all of us. Once in a while we get a glimpse of it; we float into the ‘thin space’; we feel the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is fleeting, but it is enough to connect us to others who are suffering and yet longing.
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