[Oe List ...] Well, since things are confusing, I have a question . . . Do Christians have rituals for empathy?

[James Wiegel]

THE BACK STORY:  This morning, while the Stanley Steemer guys were here shampooing our carpets, I was on an internet call/study group with 2 people from the university I attended manyyears ago.  We are studying some papers trying to understand a stable basis for morality/ethics as we "grope forward in our age."

Today we looked at an interview between Krista Tippett and a person who used to be the Chief Rabbi in The United Kingdom.  He described a part of the Passover ritual:
RABBI SACKS: That grief has to be heard. It has to be heard by the other side. One of the most powerful rituals, astonishingly powerful, is in the Passover service when we read the Ten Plagues, and it’s our custom.
MS. TIPPETT: The Ten Plagues?
RABBI SACKS: The Ten Plagues that hit Egypt and we recite them...
MS. TIPPETT: That’s a hard story for modern people.
RABBI SACKS: ...blood, frogs, et cetera, and with each one, we shed, we spill, a drop of wine. We shed a tear.
MS. TIPPETT: Right.
RABBI SACKS: We shed a tear because, for a moment, we allow ourselves to think of the victims of our victories, the pain of the other side, who were enslaving us, but they were still human and they were still suffering. It’s when you can feel your opponent’s pain that you’re beginning the path that leads to reconciliation.

That seemed powerful to us in these days, especially in developing empathy, and then we wondered, do Christians have any rituals that develop empathy like this?  I could not think of one . . .

Here is a link to the interview.

https://onbeing.org/programs/jonathan-sacks-the-dignity-of-difference/


Jim Wiegel
401 North Beverly Way, Tolleson, Arizona 85353
Tel. 011-623-936-8671 or 011-623-363-3277
jfwiegel at yahoo.com
www.partnersinparticipation.com

When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt.  "But that is not what great ships are built for."   Clarissa Pinkola Estes

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