Take Time for Compassion

Let me get to the point: this is a beautiful book. I mean, really beautiful. If Jonathan Nambu would write more, he will be the next Henri Nouwen. His spirituality is reminiscent of Nouwen’s, particularly deepened through selfless service: Nambu with Samaritana, Nouwen with L’Arche Daybreak. Jonathan and his wife Thelma founded Samaritana Transformation Ministries, a Christian organization that ministers to adult women survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking.?

As the subtitle suggests, the book is divided into four parts:

· Lessons on Vulnerability

· Lessons on Compassion

· Lessons on Prayer

· Lessons on Wisdom

Within these four parts and their combined 25 chapters, Jonathan seems to relish playing with contrasts:

· being unique yet universal

· not comprehensive but holistic

· the ministry of presence versus the ministry of absence

· sometimes we are the guest, sometimes we are the host

· willfulness versus willingness

· informational versus formational

and my favorite: as you get older, focus not on learning more, but on learning deeper.

What did I get from the book? My day job as a plant manager tends to worship efficiency. The danger is to treat men no differently from machines. If one is not efficient, then he is not valuable.

So when I learned that the author co-founded Samaritana in 1992, I wonder how he did not become jaded after 25 years of arduous effort of befriending prostitutes and journeying with them towards healing and wholeness; some cases taking years of one step forward and two steps backward.

I like Jonathan's insight (actually, he quoted a Taize practitioner): compassion is who we most truly and deeply are, but often needs “dusting off” (p 55). What a refreshing answer for me: I have always been compassionate, I just need some spring cleaning.

Jonathan provides practical wisdom such as: you need to declutter your heart, you will last longer when you serve with a companion, pay attention to self care (“You must first have a self before you can give your self away”, p 63), and practice classic spiritual disciplines such as solitude, contemplation and lectio divina. Jesus protected Himself from ministry burn out through regular periods of solitude and prayer. You will never see our Lord running on fumes.

Hmmmm. Something for me to chew upon and start tweaking my calendar of 2022 activities…

Jonathan concludes by saying that each element – being more vulnerable, more compassionate, more prayerful and growing in wisdom – is a matter of choice. He ends with this stirring invitation which deserves to be quoted verbatim:

The invitation I feel more and more – which I extend to you, dear reader - comes from a deep place within me.?It is an invitation to walk on the path where I become vulnerability, compassion, prayer, and wisdom... These are qualities that I am invited to embody. I invite you to embody them as well, day by day, may we all have the grace to become vessels of vulnerability compassion, prayer and wisdom, as we offer more richly to our world these gifts of hope and love. (p 145)

At the start of this article, I said this is a beautiful book. It is written by a beautiful soul, enraptured by a beautiful Savior and has chosen to partner with Him to help marred people rediscover their own beauty.

Have a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Order information:

https://shop.omflit.com/products/gentle-disciplines?_pos=1&_sid=16cb392f6&_ss=r&variant=4848993009701

https://shopee.ph/Gentle-Disciplines-by-Jonathan-Nambu-i.13339139.1528387628

A Kindle edition is available via https://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Disciplines-Vulnerable-Compassionate-Prayerful-ebook/dp/B07836T3SR

About the Reviewer:?Nelson T. Dy is an author, speaker and trainer on career, relationship, and spirituality issues. His day job is being an Assistant Vice-President running two factories for a well-known beverage conglomerate. He is among the Top 100 Filipinos to follow on Linkedin in 2021.

Follow him at Linkedin as he continues to share his insights through articles such as the one you just enjoyed.