Simple Compassion: Devotions to Make a Difference in Your Neighborhood and Your World [Paperback]

Keri Wyatt Kent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

'True devotionals should stir us to devote our lives to something bigger than ourselves. [Simple Compassion] will not just warm your heart but will actually break your heart with the things that break God's.' ---Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner 'Keri's journey of compassion is truly a reflective of a woman who wants to impact her community and her world ... I think these stories will stir others to do the same.' ---Heather Larson, Director of Compassion and Justice Ministries, Willow Creek Community Church An invitation to change the world, one life at a time. Starting with your own. This fifty-two-week devotional invites you to discover a life overflowing with creative compassion. Through poignant stories and fresh insights from the Bible, you'll learn how small acts by ordinary women just like you can lead to meaningful change. Along with a clear vision of God's heart for the poor and marginalized, Simple Compassion provides manageable action steps to help you move beyond asking, 'What difference can I make?' to actually doing something. In each week's reading, you'll find inspiring meditations from the Bible blended with suggestions for living out principles of justice and compassion right where you are. Step into the adventure of following God's heart, and discover the power of Simple Compassion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'True devotionals are not just books filled with fluffy stories and neat anecdotes, but books that should stir us to devote our lives to something bigger than ourselves. Here is a devotional that will not just warm your heart, but will actually break your heart with the things that break God's. Simple Compassion is a weekly reminder that things are not right in the world, that this matters to God, and, perhaps strangest of all, that God doesn't want to change the world without us.' -- Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner

From the Back Cover

'True devotionals should stir us to devote our lives to something bigger than ourselves. [Simple Compassion] will not just warm your heart but will actually break your heart with the things that break God's.' ---Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner 'Keri's journey of compassion is truly a reflective of a woman who wants to impact her community and her world ... I think these stories will stir others to do the same.' ---Heather Larson, Director of Compassion and Justice Ministries, Willow Creek Community Church An invitation to change the world, one life at a time. Starting with your own. This fifty-two-week devotional invites you to discover a life overflowing with creative compassion. Through poignant stories and fresh insights from the Bible, you'll learn how small acts by ordinary women just like you can lead to meaningful change. Along with a clear vision of God's heart for the poor and marginalized, Simple Compassion provides manageable action steps to help you move beyond asking, 'What difference can I make?' to actually doing something. In each week's reading, you'll find inspiring meditations from the Bible blended with suggestions for living out principles of justice and compassion right where you are. Step into the adventure of following God's heart, and discover the power of Simple Compassion. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310290775
• ISBN-13: 978-0310290773
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars May Be a Helpful Starting Point for Some, October 18, 2009

By 

Bethany McKinney (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simple Compassion: Devotions to Make a Difference in Your Neighborhood and Your World (Paperback)

(What's this?)

I was really excited when I saw this book: a devotional that focuses not just on inward spirituality, but on growing in acts of compassion and justice in the world around us. Even Shane Claiborne had written a blurb about it. Let me begin by describing the format: Keri Wyatt Kent has a reflection for each week, with themes like: Woman, Heroes, Body, Enemies, Overfed, Cross-Cultural, Hope, and Jewelry. She writes her own thoughts about the week's topic, mixes in some Bible verses about it, and shares some of her own personal experiences. Each chapter ends with a "Compassion Step" and a "Community Step." The Compassion Step is an active way to engage that week's reflection on an individual level, things like: journaling, fasting, checking out various justice ministries, reflecting, and loving those around you. The Community Step is something you do with a group - often it's something like a discussion or group study, sometimes it involves visiting a local ministry or participating in a justice program together. The idea for this devotional is really great.

As for the actual content... It is written from a definite perspective: a middle-class, married, white woman who grew up in the Evangelical Christian church. If you find yourself there, and are just beginning to think about how to direct your faith outward, this might be a relatable book. Most of the book is about her own experience. She will share other people's stories, but even those are from her perspective and with her commentary. She talks about her own "white privilege", is quite concerned that poor people are fat, and still struggles with materialism and issues about image. The insights and lessons shared are very basic; they are things people begin to notice when they first start spending time with people who are different from them (racially, financially, culturally, etc.). The biblical commentary is also very much from her perspective, and she will typically give one interpretation that fits with what she's wanting to say, even if that interpretation is a bit of a reach.

So, this book may be a good starting point for a white, middle-class woman who is just beginning to think about how to live out the Christian values of compassion and justice on a daily basis. It says on the back that the book is for "Ordinary women, just like you." But that's only true if you happen to share most of the qualities of the author. I do think it may be quite helpful for people who do, which is why I give it 3 stars. But if all of those things do not apply to you, then you may be often annoyed by the ways she phrases things and what details she chooses to focus on. I really, really wanted to like this book. But I really didn't.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." Dalai Lama, January 5, 2011

By 

michael a. draper (Guilford, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Simple Compassion: Devotions to Make a Difference in Your Neighborhood and Your World (Paperback)

After noticing wonderful reviews of this book, I purchased it for my wife for a Christmas present. If there is something that can say LOVE within a book, it is this.

The inside jacket of the book informs the reader how the author "...tells the story of many courageous people who have made bold choices to live a lifestyle of compassion and justice."

My wife has been enjoying the book which she reads as she starts her day. Then at night, she tells me what she's read and her interpretation of what the day's thoughts might be.

The author, Keri Wyatt Kent has divided the book into short chapters and at the end of each there are two action steps. In the first step, it asks the individual to take some action that might make a difference in the world. Where many people just contemplate doing things, this author is asking for her readers to take some kind of action.

The second step is a community step and the reader might do with a group of people that would pray for and care for each other.

I think that the reader who wants to make either a small or more significant step toward improving their life and their relationships with others would benefit from this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living with Compassion, December 6, 2009

By 

W. Easley "Opa" (Colorado Rocky Mountains) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Simple Compassion: Devotions to Make a Difference in Your Neighborhood and Your World (Paperback)

(What's this?)

Simple Compassion is an exceptional devotional. Keri Wyatt Kent presents one devotion each week for fifty two weeks in four 13 week parts:

"Compassion begins with you" (discovering our worth and God's uncompromising love for us);
"Compassion Grows in Community" (simple ways to show compassion to other people);
"Compassion Extends Beyond our Comfort Zones" (bringing God's kingdom to the poor and marginalized); and
"Compassion Offers God's Love to the World" (sharing God's love with everyone).

Compassion for others is central to God's love. Caring for others and helping them with their problems intensifies my love for God. Kent's teaching reveals that the more I love other people and care for them, the closer I become to God.

Keri Wyatt Kent's topics focus upon common concerns of life, such as enemies, family, the elderly, and living with hunger or anxiety. In each topic, Kent surfaces spiritual insights and points to Biblical verses. She ends each topic with a "compassion step" and a "community step" that help us put our meditation into action.

Kent's writes "Simple Compassion" like a journal. She makes comments and tells stories of actual events. Kent consistently includes scripture, and history. But this is not like listening to a professor in a class. It is more like sitting down with a friend over coffee and discussing your day Kent's comments are very personal and very relevant. She talks about events and problems that we all face. Although not all of her experiences fit my life exactly, I found her sharing of her life very meaningful.

Simple Compassion is an outstanding devotional. I highly recommend it.