Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life

by Henri J.M. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill, Douglas A. Morrison

In this provocative essay on that least understood virtue, compassion, the authors challenge themselves and us with these Where do we place compassion in our lives? Is it enough to live a life in which we hurt one another as little as possible? Is our guiding ideal a life of maximum pleasure and minimum pain? Compassion answers no.

After years of study and discussion among themselves, with other religious, and with men and women at the very center of national politics, the authors look at compassion with a vigorous new perspective. They place compassion at the heart of a Christian life in a world governed far too long by principles of power and destructive control. Compassion, no longer merely an eraser of human mistakes, is a force of prayer and action -- the expression of God's love for us and our love for God and one another.

Compassion is a book that says no to a compassion of guilt and failure and yes to a compassionate love that pervades our spirit and moves us to action. Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison have written a moving document on what it means to be a Christian in a difficult time.

Genres: Theology, Spirituality, Christian, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, theologian, psychologist, professor, and spiritual writer whose work profoundly shaped contemporary Christian spirituality. Born in Nijkerk, the Netherlands, in 1932, Nouwen pursued religious studies and was ordained a priest in 1957. His intellectual curiosity led him to study psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen and later at the Menninger Clinic in Kansas, where he explored the connection between faith and mental health. Throughout his life, Nouwen remained committed to integrating pastoral care, psychology, and spiritual theology in a way that addressed the emotional and existential needs of believers.
Nouwen held teaching positions at prestigious institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Harvard Divinity School. He authored over three dozen books and hundreds of articles, with notable works such as The Wounded Healer, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Life of the Beloved, and The Inner Voice of Love. His writing, often rooted in personal vulnerability and spiritual struggle, resonated with readers across denominations. Nouwen openly explored themes of loneliness, identity, intimacy, and the human desire for love and belonging, making his voice especially relatable and influential.
Though he was a gifted academic and popular speaker, Nouwen found his deepest calling later in life through his involvement with L’Arche, a network of communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. After a transformative stay at the original L’Arche community in France, Nouwen accepted an invitation to become the pastor of L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, Ontario. There he developed a close bond with Adam Arnett, a core member with severe disabilities, which inspired the book Adam: God’s Beloved. At Daybreak, Nouwen discovered a deep spiritual home and a community that helped him embrace his humanity in profound ways.
Throughout his life, Nouwen wrestled with issues of identity, including his sexuality and his longing for connection, though he remained faithful to his vows. His openness about depression and inner conflict gave depth to his pastoral message, and his ability to turn personal struggle into shared spiritual insight made him one of the most beloved spiritual writers of the 20th century.
Henri Nouwen died in 1996 of a sudden heart attack, but his legacy endures through his writings, the Henri Nouwen Society, and the continued global reach of his message of belovedness, vulnerability, and compassionate community. His books remain bestsellers, widely read in seminaries, churches, and among individuals seeking a more intimate walk with God.

Reviews

[Allison Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of all the books I have read in 2025, if I could only recommend one to everybody this year, it would be this one. only 130 pages, every single line of this book has been carefully placed and written so as not to waste a single word. You will find no filler pages or chapters here, simply an articulation of Jesus as a servant, giving himself to us. You will find a necessary and poignant rebuke filled with truth and grace of how you and I can so easily turn compassion into a self-centered task or project. And finally, if you are like me, you will finish this book wanting to restart it from the beginning.
While I could have underlined, highlighted, and made notes on most every sentence of this book, I've selected this quote to share:

"Jesus' whole life and mission involve accepting powerlessness and revealing in this powerlessness the limitlessness of God's love. Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there. God's compassion is total, absolute, unconditional, without reservation. It is the compassion of one who keeps going to the most forgotten corners of the world, and who cannot rest as long as he knows that there are still human beings with tears in their eyes. It is the compassion of a God who does not merely act as a servant, but whose servanthood is a direct expression of his divinity." (page 27 of my copy which has an incredible yellow and purple cover unlike the bland tan one that goodreads has curated)

Thank you Nyah for recommending this to me those years ago!!!

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pg 17-18 are imprinted in my mind. Our world and relationships give a distorted image of a deeply compassionate God. Nouwen paints for us a depiction of God-with-us, the One who desires to embrace and love us through our pain and chaos. Once we have met with this God, we are called to go out and embrace others with that same compassion.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[Longfellow · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book hasn’t influenced my day-to-day thinking as much as some other Nouwen books, I think this says more about my current level of distraction than it does the quality of the observations and insights found in Compassion, though it’s possible that Nouwen’s co-authorship with two other authors on this one slightly reduces the tone of intimacy most of his books offer.

Nonetheless, when I look back at my underlinings and annotations, I see that my reading experience exemplifies all my Nouwen experiences in several ways: clearly stated ideas, challenges to reflect upon, and potentially life-changing sentences throughout. If I were to write down just one of these sentences and stick it in my pocket for a day or a week or a year, I’m certain I would find my perspective being brought back to the places where joy and gratitude reside. Alright, I’ll try it.

Wow, I’d better be careful. Some of these things require a level of commitment and change that is no joke. But okay, I’ve chosen a couple: “Being compassionate would require giving up dividing lines and relinquishing differences and distinctions.” I had to search as far as page 19 to find this one. It’s a good reminder that each person has full and equal value in the light of love.

Another good question, which I will not put in my pocket, is a few pages later: “Are we really servants when we can become masters again once we think we have done our part or made our contribution?”

But the second quote I’ll put in my pocket is something that is a fairly consistent challenge for me, which has to do with feeling there’s rarely enough time in each day, resulting in impatience and annoyance: “Essentially, impatience is experiencing the moment as empty, useless, meaningless. It is wanting to escape from the here and now as soon as possible.” Holding this quote closely should remind me to continually return fully to the present moment.

The central idea of Compassion is that God, through Jesus, has expressed intent to be with humanity in our suffering and weakness. As believers and followers, our calling is to seek a similar presence with those whom we come into contact, resulting in “displacement” from our solitary subjectivity to a place of empathy and beyond. Prayer is the tool that heightens our awareness of such reality, and action is the discipline that results from our true faith in this reality.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

ugh i love nouwen. found a 1984 copy of this in a used bookstore in belfast summer of 2022 and it’s been such a balm! story and art of joel filártiga was super powerful too.

[Evan Hoekzema · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a powerful book. So timely, so needed. Nouwen and a couple other authors tackle the compassionate life and why it’s inextricably linked with the gospel. He makes the point early in the book how it’s God’s compassion that compels him to enter into our suffering with us. That we have a God who, rather than being turned off by pain, goes so far as to experience with us. I started reading this book soon after my Dad passed after a long battle with cancer. I can’t tell you how impactful those words were for me!

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book touches my heart and challenges my mind. I’ve never been dared to love and care for others like I am by the three men who spent a significant stretch of their lives putting together these words. Even when I read the book for the third time recently, I was carefully taking down notes and retyping whole paragraphs. It is a book to read slowly and take seriously. I can’t say anything that would do justice to the depth of their insights, so I will just summarize their path, and if you are interested at all in the subject then I highly encourage you to read it for yourself.

The book is laid out as follows:

Compassion is modeled from
• Jesus as God with us
• Jesus as Servant God
• Jesus as Obedient God

Compassion can only happen when
• We work it out within community
• We accept displacement from what is “ordinary and proper” in the eyes of the world
• We embrace a radical way of being together with others

Compassion is expressed through
• Patience
• Prayer
• Action


It sounds simple because they strove to make their message simple. But there is so much to get out of every section.

[Brad Dell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I will be turning back to it continually to guide me through the messiness, heartbreak, long-windedness, grief — beauty — of compassion. I’ve never felt more liberated from the burdens I place on myself in unhealthy compassion; through this relief, I listen with clarity to those who knock. I wish all would read this.

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Challenging in its points, but not the best-written book... I was actually a bit glad when it was over.

[Joshua Haldeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sincerity and humility with which this book was written shines, and I love that the authors invite us as readers into their process. This work is concise, clear, powerfully engaging, and rich in scriptural support. One of the things that stood out to me and that I appreciated greatly was the balance the authors bring to the subject - they lay out the truth, and then reign us in to show how this actually applies to our lives, which doesn’t always require us to DO MORE, but instead requires us to pause and RECOGNIZE what GOD is ALREADY DOING. The section on displacement changed my perspective on my life as I’ve been wrestling with belonging and fitting in. This was my first experience of Henri Nouwen, and this certainly won’t be my last.

[Iona Kroussoratsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great classic from Henri! A very helpful read for anyone seeking to better care for others, and be challenged to pray and act. Henri writes, “This is the deepest meaning of compassionate action. It is the grateful, free, and joyful expression of the great encounter with the compassionate God. And it will be fruitful even when we can see neither how nor why. In and through such action, we realise that indeed all is grace and that our only possible response is gratitude.”

[Nyah Brack · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this book for class and was not disappointed!! there's so much wisdom in this short read about actively mirroring the Lord's compassion in our day-to-day lives and how humanity shapes our views of compassion. Nouwen contrasts our fleshly motivations with those that come from above to give practical ways in which we can walk a little more like Christ in the lives of those around us.

[Bailey Frederking · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book I needed for a day of sabbath rest. A book that speaks into the here and now and brings about great encouragement and conviction. A compassionate life is far from an easy one. It is one of patience, humility, gratitude, confrontation of evil within ourselves and around us, obedience, and sacrifice. But as they finish this book, a compassionate life is not the final goal- a compassionate life should point beyond itself.

[Tyler Stitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful. The authors draw together a rich Scriptural and theological account of compassion as the center of the Christian life and situate it in the context of our world, which feels as timely in 2021 as it surely was in 1982.

[Haley Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a picture of the Christian life played out as it should be.

[Julie Woolery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a huge influence in my life 20 years ago, and I can’t believe it’s been that long since I read it. This is a book I will re-read every year, and I’m so thankful for the friend who inspired me to pick it up again :)

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoughtful and compassionate look at how we should respond to others - as you might expect, given the topic of the book. Also to be expected of a single-topic book that is a passion project, the authors go a bit too far in seeing compassion as the apex virtue and sole lens through which to understand human existence. None-the-less, certainly a book worth reading and reflecting on.

The style comes across as very Catholic - emphasizing God's mystical and intimate shared suffering with us as the model for our own approach to others, with communality as a key organizing principle. It's very different from the way in which my very Reformed background tends to view the Christian life, and I think provided therefore a nice counterbalance, of which likely the best answer lies somewhere between those two extremes.

A few quotes that stood out to me:

"Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human. . . something more is involved than a general kindness or tenderheartedness"

"Is our best advice we can give each other that we should try to live in such a way that we hurt each other as little as possible? Is our greatest ideal a maximum of satisfaction with a minimum of pain?"

"The mystery of God's love is not that our pain is taken away, but that God first wants to share that pain with us."

"The awareness that we have hardly any influence on our own way of living and working, and the realization that at any moment something could happen that could permanently destroy our life, health, or happiness, can fil us with an all-pervasive sadness and fear"

"[Compassion] is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position: it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there."

"[the way of Jesus] is the way that at first frightens or at least embarrasses us. Who wants to be humble? Who wants to be last? Who wants to be like a little, powerless child? Who desires to lose his or her life, to be poor, mourning, and hungry?"

"Radical servanthood is not an enterprise in which we try to surround ourselves with as much misery as possible, but a joyful way of life in which our eyes are opened to the vision of the true God who chose to b e revealed in servanthood. The poor are called blessed not becaues poverty is good, but because there is the kingdom of heaven; the mourners are called blessed not because mourning is good, but because they shall be comforted."

"As long as the help we offer others is motivated primarily by the changes we may accomplish, our service cannot last long."

"much of our inner restlessness, nervousness, and tension is connected with our worries aout the unknown future. . . our work for the future be based not on anxiety, but on a vision of something worthwhile in the present. When our schemes for a new world are only an expression of our unhappiness with the present, we risk engaging in what Thomas Merton called 'organized despair'"

"It is not easy to find yourself back in the normal Christian world. It all seems so shabby, formal, less intense, and less calm. For us in prison, the gospel was our strength, our weapon against evil, against hate, against oppression."

"The Church in Latin America, and throughout much of the Third World, is being offered a terrible opportunity, which we dare envy."

"Compassion is not an individual character trait, a personal attitude, or a special talent, but a way of living together."

"One of the most tragic events of our time is that we know more than ever about the pains and sufferings of the world and yet are less and less able to respond to them . . .Can we reasonably expect compassion from the many isolated individuals who are constantly being reminded in the privacy of their homes or cars of the vast extent of human suffering? ... What we can expect is the opposite of compassion: numbness and anger.. . . Our minds cannot tolerate being constantly reminded of things which interfere wit h what we are doing at the moment. When we have to open our store in the morning, go about our business, prepare our classes, or talk to our fellow worker, we cannot be filled with the collective misery of the world."

"Numbness and anger are the reactions of the person who says, ;When I can't do anything about it anyhow, why do you bother me with it!' Confronted with human pain and at the same time reminded of our powerlessness, we feel offended to the very core of our being."

"We are able to o many hard things, tolerate many conflicts, overcome many obstacles, and persevere under many pressures, but when we no longer experience ourselves as part of a caring, supporting, praying community, we quickly lose faith"

"Voluntary displacement leads us to the existential recognition of our inner brokenness and thus brings us to a deeper solidarity with the brokenness of our fellow human beings."

"Many people who have experienced harsh, cruel displacements can testify that displacement unsettled their family life, destroyed their sense of security, created much anger and resentment, and left them with the feeling that their lives were irreparably harmed. Displaced people, therefore, are not necessarily compassionate people. Many have become fearful, suspicious, and prone to complain."

"What gave him extraordinary personal power was this: ... there was never a man who looked into those brown burning eyes without being certain that Francis Bernadone was really interest in him, in his own inner individual life from the cradle to the grave; that he himself was being valued and taken seriously..."

"The dedicated man might go anywhere among any kind of men, even the worst kind of men, so long as there was nothing by which they could hold him, IF he had any ties or needs like ordinary men, he would become like ordinary men."

"We do not have to go after crosses, but we have to take up the crosse that have been ours all along."

"The more we are able to discern God' voice in the midst of our daily lives, the more we will be able to hear when God calls us to more drastic forms of displacement . . . But no one will be able to hearor understand these very blessed calls if he or she has not recognized the smaller calls hidden in the hours of a regular day."

"Quite often we will discover that we are asked to follow to places we would rather not go."

"We often think that service means to give something to others, to tell them how to speak, act, or behave; but now it appears that above all else, real, humble service is helping our neighbors discover that they possess great but often hidden talents that can enable them to do even more for us than we can do for them."

"In the Christian life, discipline ... is like raking away the leaves that cover the pathways in the garden of our soul."

"God calls by giving a new name . . . Often we cling to our old names because our new names, our new identities, may point us in directions we would rather not go. . . But we also sense that be remaining deaf we will remain strangers to our deepest selves and never realize our true identities. Without discipline, we might never come to know our true name. And that would be the greatest tragedy of our existence. Deaf people become nameless people who have no destination and remain aimless wanderers, unknown to themselves and their sisters and brothers on the same journey."

"If we ourselves are unable to suffer, we cannot suffer with others. If we lack the strength to carry the burden of our own lives, we cannot accept the burden of our neighbors."

"Patience is a willingness to be influenced even when it means giving up control and entering into unknown territory."

"Impatience is experiencing the moment as empty, useless, meaningless. It is wanting to escape from the here and now as soon as possible. Sometimes our emotions are so totally dominated by impatience that we can no longer give any meaning to the moment. . . Our sole all-pervasive desire has become to get away from this place and time. There is no more hope in the moment."

"patience opens our hearts to the elderly and prevents us from the clock-time judgment that their most important years have already passed. Patience opens us to the sick and dying and allows us to sense that one minute of really being together can remove the bitterness of a lifetime."

"without fully realizing it, we have accepted the idea that 'doing things' is more important than prayer and have come to think of prayer as something for times when there is nothing urgent to do."

"Prayer is not our most natural response to the world. left to our own impulses, we ill always want to do something else before we pray."

"Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is, ;Do your best and God will do the rest.' When life is divided into 'our best' and 'God's rest,' we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted."

"Prayer ... is the effort to remove everything that might prevent the Spirit of God, given to us by Jesus Christ, from speaking freely to us and in us."

"To pray for all these people is not a futile effort to influence God's will, but a hospitable gesture by which we invite our neighbors into the center of our hearts. To pray for others means to make them part of ourselves. To pray for others means to allow their pains and sufferings, their anxieties and loneliness, their confusion and fears to resound in our innermost selves."

"Prayer allows us to lead into the center of our hearts not only those who love us, but also those who hate us. . . Praying for our enemies is therefore a real event, the event of reconciliation."

"Bonhoeffer ... writers that to pray for others is to give them 'the same right we have received, namely, to stand before Christ and share in his mercy.'"

"In prayer, we meet Christ, and in him all human suffering. In service we meet people, and in them the suffering Christ."

"In our society, which equates worth with productivity, patient action is very difficult. We tend to be so concerned with doing something worthwhile, bringing about changes, planning, organizing, structuring, and restructuring that we often seem to forget that it is not we who redeem, but God."

"We can never claim pure motives, and it is better to act with and for those who suffer than to wait until we have our own needs completely under control."

"To persevere without visible success we need a spirit of gratitude. An angry action is born of the experience of being hurt; a grateful action is born of the experience of healing. Angry actions want to take; grateful actions want to share."

"Even when there are no concrete results, the act itself can still be a revelation of God's caring presence here and now. Such action is true action because it is born of true knowledge of God's active presence. It grows not from the need to prove anything or to persuade anyone, but from the desire to give free witness to that which is profoundly real."

"This is the deepest meaning of compassionate action. It is the grateful, free, and joyful expression of the great encounter with the compassionate God. And it will be fruitful even when we can see neither how nor why. In and through such action, we realize that indeed all is grace and that our only possible response is gratitude."

"The compassionate life is not our final goal. In fact, we can only live the compassionate life to the fullest when we know that it points beyond itself... a place for us where suffering will be overcome and compassion no longer necessary."

[Becka the Book Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The word compassion is derived from two Latin words – pati and cum – which together mean “to suffer with.” The authors note that, although most of us commonly think of compassion as one of the basic characteristics that make us human, true compassion in fact runs counter to our inborn nature.

The first section of the book is a study of the meaning of compassion as demonstrated by God, beginning with His act of taking on flesh and living not among the privileged classes as a benefactor reaching down to help those beneath him, but as a common man fully sharing in the day-to-day experiences of ordinary human life. In Jesus Christ, we see that compassion is completely self-emptying, humble, and obedient.

In the second section, the authors examine the importance of community, displacement, and togetherness in living compassionately as followers of Christ, concluding that “…displacement leads to a new togetherness in which we can recognize our sameness in common vulnerability, discover our unique talents as gifts for the upbuilding of the community, and listen to God’s call…”

The third section discusses the disciplines involved in the way of compassion: patience, prayer, and action. It is necessary to recognize that sometimes what we believe are compassionate actions are misdirected due to our lack of patience and prayerful waiting on God’s guidance.

This book is a deliberate reflection on the Christian life, challenging us to explore aspects that we rarely consider in our cursory understanding of compassion and exhorting us to better realize and fulfill our commission as the body of Christ.

[Ánder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reading. The authors write from a very devotional way. This is not a technical book it is most an example of practical theology with a bit of mysticism. This book invites the reader to live in a life of compassion and vulnerable relationships to God and humans. An enriching reading, highly recommendable.

I give it four stars not because it is not good enough simply because I feel some sections of the book (I suspect those written by Nouwen) make an excessive use of phrases like "Here and Now" or ideas like the "breaking of the bread" as a factor in forming community. Ideas and phrases that are excellent but seemed to be used more than necessary. All in all, this does not make the reading boring, read it if you have a chance.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is truly amazing... i've read it a couple of times now and would truly recommend it to anyone... it's beautiful and rich and deep... speaks of living in our world with a rich awareness of the needs around us, how to enter in deeply with others who are hurting... how to live as Christ called us to live. in my mind it sums up a great many books that try to delve into how we are to live in out day and age... it approaches this subject on a deeper heart level and challenges you truly and subtly...

beautiful.

[Craig Bergland · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of this book is misleading in that it is a book not about Compassion at all, but instead a book about Christian Community. I found that disappointing in that I had hoped based on the title for a Christian treatment of compassion. Beyond that, I found the content trite and dated at times. What serious Christian thinker asserts that God won't give us more than we can handle, the biblical verse that suggests that notwithstanding? The book's take on suffering was almost medieval, traditional atonement theology undergirds it as well. Don't waste your time on it.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are experiencing burnout and discouragement about ministry, and/or you're feeling stuck in your head all the time, read. this. book. I have needed these words for months. It is kind and convicting, and reminded me there are not just things we leave behind in the Christian life, but a beautiful God we move towards. Fantastic. 5/5 stars.

[Mary Banken · Rating 4 out of 5]

On those days when the world around me and/or the world far away cause me to despair, the gentle words of this book have called me back to patience and compassion...away from competition. A good book to return to when life's challenges begin to overwhelm.

[Katherine]

This is probably one of the most life-changing books I have ever read. In my opinion, this book just completely maps out what the Christian life is all about.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henri helps us to understand that compassion is more than sympathy or concern for another. Rather Compassion is to feel the pain of another, and to enter into a similar struggle for justice.

[Rachel Lustig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I come back to this book on a regular basis and each time I get something more from it!

[John-Francis Friendship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book exploring this virtue by a leading writer on spiritulaity.

[Elaine Brandenburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve ever read, specifically about how compassion leads one to prayer and the weight of compassion.

[Laura S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compassion in light of Jesus is a deep, character-shaping topic. “Self-compassion” is trending in our modern culture, and while I am grateful for times of reflection, refreshment, and renewal, I can only imagine that the attachment of the word “self” to “compassion” would be a baffling concept to early Christians.

Compassion, by its very etymology, requires community: “com” = with others / and / “pati” = suffering. So, compassion means “to suffer with others.” This same root “pati” makes up the word “patience” and is identified by Nouwen as THE discipline of compassion. I agree with his assessment that, “Patience is an extremely difficult discipline precisely because it counteracts our unreflective impulse to flee or fight.”

There may be times we are presented with scenarios where there is little precedent to draw wisdom from. Pain resulting from the free-will wrongdoing of others, or the anxiety that results from uncertainty of how to navigate grey areas may, indeed, evoke the powerful reflexes of fight or flight. It is precisely in these times that we have the opportunity to “discern the loving presence of God”.

When we recognize God’s presence we are able to “settle in” and listen to His Spirit. The answer we get may run contrary to our “default mode” of self-preservation, but trusting His goodness and righteousness leads us to obedience. It is in this surrender to obedience that the discipline of patience bears fruit. It causes us to be immersed in the sufferings of others. To gain insight into their perspectives and what may drive their own fight or flight responses. It is through the patience instilled within us that we are able to be present, listen, embrace, and love another.

[Christy Chermak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would consider this required reading for any believer but found it especially helpful to refine the thinking and do a gut check for those in helper or ministry professions. Really helpful thoughts on what true compassion is- not the small version we dabble in today.
Challenged me in my thinking of how I’m “with” others- and if I’m willing to be fully present in their hardships, sufferings, and needs. Great basis starting with the unthinkable ways Jesus has been “with” us- completely entering into our pain and setting his abilities and needs aside.

Two big take aways I want to remember:
-am I living at a pace that leaves room to be fully present with people in their hardship? Not based on the convenience of my calendar or the ticking of the clock.
-am I listening to the Lord so clearly in the actions I take to serve others that success is defined by the obedience of the action, not it’s outcome?

Nouwen has been a great author to add into my intake/spiritual development, looking forward to continue reading his work.