Jackie Stallworth - Phemon of Prayer 2

Chapter 4 

On page 68, the book mentions that empathy and incarnation are part of prayer. Specifically, it talks about how the word empathy comes from the Greek term meaning “to suffer or undergo”. I might be understanding this wrong, but I immediately thought of fasting. For my entire K-12 education, I went to very diverse schools with a lot of Muslim students who would always have the fast in the spring. I had always witnessed it, but I never understood it until one of my friends explained it to me in high school. Muslims fast for multiple reasons, but what most relates to this reading is how fasting shows them what it is like to be hungry and thirsty so you feel compassion and empathy for those who are always hungry and thirsty. I also knew of some Christian friends who would fast as a fundraiser for their church, and I know some non-religious people who have fasted in order to feel the same kind of compassion and empathy, without having any ties to any religion. I never fully understood the purpose of fasting, but now I realize that it’s part of prayer, specifically relating to empathy. 

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