Compassion has the power to ease others’ suffering, restore relational connection, even bridge divides that seem irreconcilable. How is compassion cultivated, however, when we, quite simply, do not feel like it? Often, in the face of another’s distress or disagreeableness, we feel weary, discouraged, annoyed, perhaps repulsed—anything but a desire to be compassionate. The counterintuitive truth is that authentic compassion for another is cultivated by first tending to our own antipathies with compassionate care. This workshop—through story, reflection exercises, compassion meditations, and group processes—will explore the nature of compassion. its unique power to nurture personal restoration, and the process by which genuine care for another can be accessed even when we do not feel like it.
Dr. Frank Rogers Jr. is the Muriel Bernice Roberts Professor of Spiritual Formation and Narrative Pedagogy and the co-director of the Center for Engaged Compassion at the Claremont School of Theology. He is the author of several books including Cradled in the Arms of Compassion: A Spiritual Journey from Trauma to Recovery; Practicing Compassion; and Compassion in Practice: The Way of Jesus.
He lives in southern California with his wife, Dr. Alane Daugherty, with whom he shares three young adult sons, Justin, Michael, and Sammy. With his wife, he loves to run, hike, snorkel, and follow baseball.
For more on Dr. Rogers’ work, please visit his website.
This workshop is funded through the generosity of Barbara and Steve Phelan.
