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A Mile in My Shoes: Cultivating Compassion
We can be quick to pray for people around the world in times of trauma, but has prayer become a way to avoid taking real action? Are we reluctant to be fully aware of the suffering around us?
Trevor Hudson challenges us to see, hear, and respond to the needs of others, recognizing the living Christ in all things.
Hudson designed an 8-day program--a pilgrimage--to help all Christians cultivate the depth of compassion Jesus demonstrated. Through this program, pilgrims learn to be present wherever they are and with whomever they meet.
"We seldom become more compassionate without working at it," writes Hudson. "One practical way to cultivate compassion involves building the pilgrimage experience into our lives. …The risen Christ meets us in the lives of those who suffer."
Join Trevor Hudson in this exploration of how to love your neighbor as yourself and choose compassion as part of your daily life.
Trevor Hudson challenges us to see, hear, and respond to the needs of others, recognizing the living Christ in all things.
Hudson designed an 8-day program--a pilgrimage--to help all Christians cultivate the depth of compassion Jesus demonstrated. Through this program, pilgrims learn to be present wherever they are and with whomever they meet.
"We seldom become more compassionate without working at it," writes Hudson. "One practical way to cultivate compassion involves building the pilgrimage experience into our lives. …The risen Christ meets us in the lives of those who suffer."
Join Trevor Hudson in this exploration of how to love your neighbor as yourself and choose compassion as part of your daily life.
122 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
13 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 24, 2020
Compassion has become a rather cheap word, or, perhaps too associated with emotion. It is tied to the emotional that one can hardly say compassion without tying it to the word feel...making compassion no longer the verb, the thing one does.
This, of course, is rather unfortunate. Even well-meaning people can take this emotional aspect at face value, and conclude niceness, or fine feeling, is sufficient as a filler for compassion. Or, as Hudson illustrates throughout this book, one can decide to "do good for the needy" and yet stick to societal labels (typically involving poverty and wealth, power and weakness), which only robs those you may think you are helping of their humanity: a mere entertainment, or curiosity.
This work is more about cultivating a personhood that is able to make compassion actionable, then it is about how to offer compassion to others. This is no trifle; Hudson writes if your faith seems to be centered around making yourself comfortable, and not challenging you to be uncomfortable, it is a clear sign you are not truly rooted in the notion of what this whole religion thing is supposed to do. In an election year in the United States, when myriad candidates will talk about their faith to get a voting block, it's not too cynical to think that when confronted with the kind of sacrifice the religious life calls on one to do, many would hope the tendencies our rather distracted age would win out over questions of how faith led them to a life of sacrifice.
Vastly important is his emphasis on reflection, and not only appreciating solitude but making time for it. A lot happens when we take time for this, and we do not, as Hudson points out, we tend to live on this surface level, simply traversing from one drama to another. We never break out of these patterns otherwise, and as any reader of fiction can attest, such patterns are destined for tragedy.
In the end, this is what many Christians concern themselves with, a fact quite lost as a result of that rather bad marriage of Christianity and politics, which seems to do neither any good.
This is a take on compassion from a Christian perspective, but I'd argue there are things any can learn from here, particularly those about to embark on an initiative of public service or non-profit work. This deep, important internal work creates the space for true social change.
A+
This, of course, is rather unfortunate. Even well-meaning people can take this emotional aspect at face value, and conclude niceness, or fine feeling, is sufficient as a filler for compassion. Or, as Hudson illustrates throughout this book, one can decide to "do good for the needy" and yet stick to societal labels (typically involving poverty and wealth, power and weakness), which only robs those you may think you are helping of their humanity: a mere entertainment, or curiosity.
This work is more about cultivating a personhood that is able to make compassion actionable, then it is about how to offer compassion to others. This is no trifle; Hudson writes if your faith seems to be centered around making yourself comfortable, and not challenging you to be uncomfortable, it is a clear sign you are not truly rooted in the notion of what this whole religion thing is supposed to do. In an election year in the United States, when myriad candidates will talk about their faith to get a voting block, it's not too cynical to think that when confronted with the kind of sacrifice the religious life calls on one to do, many would hope the tendencies our rather distracted age would win out over questions of how faith led them to a life of sacrifice.
Vastly important is his emphasis on reflection, and not only appreciating solitude but making time for it. A lot happens when we take time for this, and we do not, as Hudson points out, we tend to live on this surface level, simply traversing from one drama to another. We never break out of these patterns otherwise, and as any reader of fiction can attest, such patterns are destined for tragedy.
In the end, this is what many Christians concern themselves with, a fact quite lost as a result of that rather bad marriage of Christianity and politics, which seems to do neither any good.
This is a take on compassion from a Christian perspective, but I'd argue there are things any can learn from here, particularly those about to embark on an initiative of public service or non-profit work. This deep, important internal work creates the space for true social change.
A+
August 9, 2025
A short book, an unconventional challenge, a thoughtful invitation.
My takeaway/prayer: Open my heart, Lord, to see, to notice, to pay attention to those around me… to listen attentively to those I encounter, esp those who suffer (strangers, neighbors, family)… not just for their sake but for my own.
You see my tendency to avoid, to judge, or to distance myself. Help me to genuinely “move toward” when it’s hard, and to live sensitive to the leading of Your Spirit, not inattentively distracted by my own life and agenda. Disrupt my resistance to the discomfort and inconvenience of entering into the “messes” of others.
Help me journey as a pilgrim, humbly acknowledging my fellow image-bearing pilgrims during my time on this planet.
Amen.
My takeaway/prayer: Open my heart, Lord, to see, to notice, to pay attention to those around me… to listen attentively to those I encounter, esp those who suffer (strangers, neighbors, family)… not just for their sake but for my own.
You see my tendency to avoid, to judge, or to distance myself. Help me to genuinely “move toward” when it’s hard, and to live sensitive to the leading of Your Spirit, not inattentively distracted by my own life and agenda. Disrupt my resistance to the discomfort and inconvenience of entering into the “messes” of others.
Help me journey as a pilgrim, humbly acknowledging my fellow image-bearing pilgrims during my time on this planet.
Amen.
October 4, 2023
This is a very quick read that I wanted to start over again as soon as I finished. If everyone who identified as Christian lived out the tenets of this book, we would not be so despised as a group. Very simply this book describes how to live as Christ did, with Christ as the lead to compassion for others. The steps described to do so are intuitive and simple. The stories of those who tried these steps, including the author, are inspiring and encouraging.
November 7, 2021
Brief in length but deep in content.
June 17, 2020
This is a decidedly challenging book and stands out, in my personal experience, as a unique and needed source of guidance for self-reflection and challenge. So, for that reason, I will recommend reading it.
Its drawback is what I feel is going on in our world today, and it's a major handicap. While Mr. Hudson claims to not mean to paint an unrealistic portrait of the poor who are human with failings and weaknesses as we all do, he kinda does make them look more saintly than the rest of us. Worse still, he contrasts those in the "haves" camp pretty darkly as distant and uncharitable. Wince. In my view, this note struck discordantly and created a further rift between the gaps he means to bridge, something I am sure he would be sad to hear.
Its drawback is what I feel is going on in our world today, and it's a major handicap. While Mr. Hudson claims to not mean to paint an unrealistic portrait of the poor who are human with failings and weaknesses as we all do, he kinda does make them look more saintly than the rest of us. Worse still, he contrasts those in the "haves" camp pretty darkly as distant and uncharitable. Wince. In my view, this note struck discordantly and created a further rift between the gaps he means to bridge, something I am sure he would be sad to hear.
May 12, 2025
I read this book for church. I feel bad giving it 3 stars because it did teach me things but honestly I just don’t like nonfiction and it was kinda boring. However like I said, it did teach me some important things. It taught me the proper way to approach a pilgrimage like my upcoming mission trip and how to spread God to the world in an effective, Jesus like way. I would recommend it for an educational church reading, but not for a fun read.
August 21, 2024
Overall, this is a very interesting look in how to practically increase compassion, both in yourself and in your congregation. Hudson speaks from personal experience, and his personal stories help provide both depth and credibility to what he has to say.
June 20, 2017
Trevor Hudson will always challenge you to move deeper in relationship with God allowing transformation to happen in your life.
March 5, 2019
This book inspired discussion and thought.
December 10, 2017
"Any. spiritual experience---whether it be one of solitude and silence, prayer and fasting, or worship and celebration---that does not result in a deeper concern for our suffering neighbor can hardly be called Christian. The critical test of our relationship with the Holy One always involved the quality of love for those around us."
"The pilgrimage experience, with its the ingredients of encounter - reflection - transformation has much to teach us."
"Don't just do something...SIT!". rest, be still, listen to God
Develop a celebrative lifestyle - God wants us to CHOOSE joy
This book would be an excellent guide for a group study on being compassionate.
"The pilgrimage experience, with its the ingredients of encounter - reflection - transformation has much to teach us."
"Don't just do something...SIT!". rest, be still, listen to God
Develop a celebrative lifestyle - God wants us to CHOOSE joy
This book would be an excellent guide for a group study on being compassionate.
December 30, 2008
This is a book that has changed my life. This was a book of study in a "Bible study" I shared with other members of my church and other churches in my community. A truly inspiring and life-changing experience, teaching the importance of cultivating compassion and reaching out to the "least of these". This book is definitely a treasure to us as we travel through this good life. Trevor Hudson suggests three practices for spiritual pilgrims: keeping a spiritual journal, sharing with one another, and taking time for silent reflection. Hudson witnesses to the power of engagement with a suffering world.
February 16, 2025
The main impact this book had on me was its emphasis on the necessity of reflection for personal spiritual growth. I found many themes pretty repetitive from works I had read before but still essential to consider in the life of a believer. Super easy read with some important points and helpful spiritual practices.
December 27, 2014
Trevor Hudson gives practical advice on cultivating compassion in your life.
August 4, 2015
Great constructive read on how to address compassion fatigue. Application is for clergy but much is truth for many areas of professional life.
March 29, 2016
This is a wonderful little guidebook on how to cultivate a life of compassion by serving Christ in the "least of these."
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews