Named One of the Best Spiritual Books of 2017 by Spirituality and Practice (Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat). In the face of hurtful public dialogue and worldwide conflict, many Christians want to practice and experience genuine compassion. After all, centuries of Christian teachings have insisted that compassion is at the heart of the Christian life. "Love your enemies," Jesus said in Luke 6:35-36. "Do good to them. Be compassionate, just as God is compassionate." How do we become more compassionate toward others, especially our enemies? And since Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, how do we practice being compassionate toward ourselves? Join Andrew Dreitcer, codirector of the Center for Engaged Compassion, in exploring how certain Christian spiritual practices are compassion practices. Discover how ancient as well as contemporary practices can shape your life, helping you become more compassionate in today's world. Dreitcer introduces you to the Compassion Practice, a compassion formation process that has been developed in the last decade. Each chapter includes a "Review and Practice" section to help you apply what you learned. Uncover and learn how to express your innate compassion within you, and find out how to turn your desire for compassion into a life centered in genuine, lasting compassion. A guide for Christians to practicing the path of radical love, including of enemies. Book Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SpiritualityandPractice.com "Love your enemies. Do good to them ... Be compassionate, just as God is compassionate." - Luke 6: 35, 36. Andrew Dreitcer is Associate Professor of Spirituality, Director of Spiritual Formation, and Codirector of the Center for Engaged Compassion at Claremont School of Theology. He contends that most of the serious and far-reaching assessments of compassion nowadays come from scientists and Buddhists. Although this capacity, expressed as "love your enemies," stands as "the highest standard of what it means to live the Christian life," Dreitcer wonders why Christian congregations are not spending more time practicing the path of love and radical compassion. Scientists studying compassion define it as "the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another's suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering." Dreitcer moves on to his interpretation of the art of compassion as loving God, loving yourself, and loving others. Biblical references emphasize understanding, feeling, and actions as taking place within the circles of our relationships. We are admonished not to have compassion but to be compassion. This Christian practice is nurtured in the soil of intention, awareness, and attention (Foundational Capacities) and intimacy, imagination, and feelings (Compassion Capacities). Other devotional resources available to Christians on this path include Centering Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, Meditations on the Life of Christ, compassion for those close to us, compassion for enemies, and Ignatian contemplation to attain love. Dreitcer also takes a look at the following practices grounded in an experience of receiving compassion: Desert prayer, Recollection, and Centering prayer. These tools exercise your interior movements and help you to "compassionately find ways to heal, free, and restore your life and the life of the world." He closes with a convincing and inspiring explanation of "a compassion practice for our time" that is rich, rounded, proactive, and transformative. In the face of hurtful public discourse and worldwide conflict, many Christians long for lives of genuine compassion. After all, centuries of Christian teachings have insisted that compassion forms the heart of the Christian life. But what does it mean to be compassionate in the way Jesus was? What does wise, courageous, world-transforming compassion look like in daily life? And assuming we know what compassion is, how do we form true compassion in our lives? How do we become compassionate toward ourselves and others-even those we experience as enemies? In response to such questions, psychologists, scientists, and religious teachers offer meditative practices that cultivate compassion. But what about Christianity? Do compassion practices show up within the Christian spiritual path? It turns out they do. But the compassion-forming power of these practices has been largely overlooked-until now. In *Living Compassion**, Andrew Dreitcer leads us through compassion practices that appear from the earliest centuries of Christianity right up to the present. Each practice, whether ancient or contemporary, moves us from understanding compassion to truly living compassion. Andrew Dreitcer is a faculty member of Claremont School of Theology, where he is associate professor of spirituality, director of spiritual formation, and codirector of the Center for Engaged Compassion. He and his wife live in Oakland, California, and have 2 adult daughters.