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Average Rating: Rating: - How to be a better person. This book is one of the most important How-To books ever. There are a lot of books out there offering to make us feel better, or to solve our various problems and anxious concerns, but few books give us concrete ways to give back of all that we've been given in our lives. This book simply, powerfully, intelligently, and at times, overwhelmingly, shows us how to relate the service and compassion of Jesus' life, and the love, patience, and generosity of God, to our own lives and the world around us. It answers the question of our human purpose in the world, and it suggests a way of being in this world that supports and encourages others and fulfills the will of God. This book teaches us how to serve God by daily and humbly serving man. This book is all about love. I know I will read and reread this book for the rest of my life. It is that essential and full of truth. And it is that challenging. Rating: - radical commitment The book, Compassion, a Reflection on the Christian Life, by Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison is about the meaning and role of compassion in a Christian's life. The book is a collection of reflections by the three authors and some of their friends, gathered in a series of weekly meetings, as they discussed what compassion means in our society. The book was written many years after these meetings. The book does not mention how the writing was divided among the three authors. The introduction makes it clear that these authors are not talking about simple compassion, as most people understand the concept, but rather, a literal "suffering with" compassion; one that requires us to enter into places of pain, and to share the misery of those who suffer. It is a compassion that is contrary to our natural goals in life; competition for a better life, to be on top, to have distinct identities. To really understand compassion we need to make a radical change of heart and mind, which the authors feel Jesus' meant when he said: "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate."The authors suggest our service to our fellow human being requires radical commitment and self self-sacrifice (in my opinion, they are suggesting self-flagellation). Compassion happens in the world when true Christian community is formed. Each member of the community can contribute with their own skill set, according to God's will for each of us, in order to the serve a great variety of needs (page 58). In my opinion, the best part of the book was the chapter on prayer. Prayer and action are an essential part of patience. Prayer strengthens our discipleship, and allows the Spirit of God to speak freely to us. In prayer we free God's Spirit from "our impatient impulses", and "allow the Spirit to do his re-creating work in us." Compassionate prayer should be the mark of the Christian community. Prayer and action are not mutually exclusive, "they must be a manifestation of God's compassionate presence in the midst of our world." I feel the pervasive message of the book calls for a compassion that few can give. Its appeal calls for a "displacement" that is too extreme. If we enter into the full "solidarity" which the authors demand, we are to become one of the downtrodden and poor. Should we then expect someone else from the old community to join us too, and repeat until we all are poor. Is true compassion only achieved when we are all outcasts? If we all realize the authors' suggested "sameness," perhaps no one will need help - lets hope so, for there will be no human left to help us. Rating: - This book changed my life. I know that's a big claim, but the fact is that it did. At the time that I read this book, I was frustrated with God, Jesus, the church and anything that had an air of religion about it. I'm not sure why I picked it up and read it, but I'm thankful that I did. This book's exploration of what compassion is and what it means to a Christian is without a doubt the best explanation that I have ever read. The book examines how God is compassionate and then looks at how this impacts the lives of those who would follow Him (the introduction alone is reason enough to read this book). It challenges people to embrace the sorrows and pain of others and to truly live a compassionate life. This books simple approach and "no-holds-barred" attitude towards compassion showed me that God was in fact compassionate and that those who followed Him could be too. If you have any questions or doubts about who God is, or if you want to know more about how God wants people to react to hurting, you MUST read this book. I can't say enough good things about it.

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