From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. (Mark 7: 24-30)

Even Jesus had expectations that were limiting. His mission, as he perceived it, was restricted to the Children of Abraham. He had left eretz Israel to get away from the crowds - and perhaps the threats of the Pharisees - not to extend his ministry to a people even less likely to understand his message.

But what Matthew calls a "Canaanite woman" altered his expectations. The encounter suggests that empathy may be a helpful corrective to expectation. What we expect is often an artifact of a self-generated intellectual process imposed on experience. Empathy is to experience another's reality.

Empathy takes us out of ourselves and helps us encounter reality with fresh eyes and ears. In authentic relationship with others we can step outside our expectations. Very often what reality offers extends far beyond what we expect. On our life's journey empathy is a more trust worthy guide than expectation.