Cultivating Compassion

Cultivating Compassion: Practical Advice as You Walk a Friend Through a Season of Loss
By: Lynne Hoeksema

Not meant to be exhaustive, this book is a short (easily read in one sitting), practical resource that offers great insights for something we’ve all wondered about- how to help a grieving friend. I’ve been on both sides of grief, as I’m sure most of us have, but for some reason we can still ‘forget’ how to interact with those grieving- saying things that aren’t helpful or not being proactive in offering help, comfort, time, or service.

Hoeksema sets out to provide tips on how to show compassion to those around us who are grieving. She mentions grief even in forms of divorce, loss of job, loss of friendship, etc, but I would say most of the content centers around the death of a loved one. Her most recent loss of her husband informs each chapter and she offers examples of what helped her through the beginning seasons of a journey living without a loved one.

She offers great encouragement to not avoid these sometimes awkward situations: don’t distance yourselves from relationships, but stick with your people, especially after the initial year of loss. Grief is an unfortunate part of this broken world, and we can't just hope it goes away. We need to cultivate compassion in our relationships and offer long-term comfort and hope to those who need it most. I’m sure I will be consulting this booklet in the future!