The Compassion Renaissance and the Return of the Prodigal Church
The Compassion Renaissance and the Return of the Prodigal Church Richard K. Stephens - December 29, 2021 Rembrandt van Rijn, Return of the Prodigal Son, 1636, etching (detail) (Wikipedia commons) This article is a distillation of an illustrated long-form article on the applied neuroscience of compassion, “ The Compassion Renaissance: Science, Mind & Spirit .” 1) Exactly What is Compassion? First off, let’s define our subject. What does it mean to have compassion? The component of action is what separates compassion from empathy, sympathy, pity, concern, condolence, sensitivity, tenderness, commiseration or any other compassion synonym. Compassion gets involved. When others keep their distance from those who are suffering, compassion prompts us to act on their behalf. [ Compassion International , website, n. d.] Compassion is both proximate and practical. 2) The Current Church Crisis In one of his famous BBC radio broadcasts given March 28