Do you remember a time when you were jolted into a bigger reality? When you were challenged to develop empathy for someone not like you?
I’m now embarrassed by the lack of empathy I had for anyone different from me, whether being from a single parent family, coming from poverty or wealth, or being of a different race. Taught that racism was a Southern (not Illinois) phenomenon, I was prejudiced and didn’t even know it.
Visits to Inupiat gatherings in Nome and Shishmaref (Alaska) as a member of Women of the ELCA also opened my eyes and ears to others. I still pray to be more empathetic of others’ experiences and beg forgiveness from those I have unknowingly slighted or insulted. I’m still working to overcome my prejudices and to see God’s face in all I meet.
This message is an excerpt of a Women of the ELCA blog by Phyllis Rude.
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