The greatest public health crisis is not cancer or heart disease; itis isolation, the U.S. Surgeon General said recently. Families,communities and faith organizations comprise more people who sufferbeing alone and disconnected than people who find wholeness throughhealthy, supportive, connection with others. This has profound socialimplications for individuals, for society, for faith communities, andfor those who lead. Compassion is the conduit through which divine tohuman, and person to person connection flows. "Be compassionate as Godis compassionate," Jesus encourages (Luke 6:36). This sum and substancestatement reveals Jesus'' understanding of who God is while inviting usto a restorative way of being the world.

Cultivating compassion in experience and practice breaches barriersthat divide us, builds bridges of divine and human connection, andemboldens us to imagine for the sake of ourselves and communities therestoration of the world God so loves. Learn to see and be seen withcompassion; Here, Now, with You provides an interactiveframework which pastors, leaders in faith communities, organizations,and agencies can use within their respective contexts to facilitatemeaningful conversations about compassion imagination and application.

Each chapter involves an interactive and imaginative process startingwith two premises: context is everything, but your context has itsuniqueness; and God does nothing outside the context of relationships.These are grounded three theological foundations which provideexploratory footing:

• God is already present in all situations no matter what, no matter who. Every person carries inherent dignity and worth, regardless of beliefs, religion, gender, sexual orientation, skin color, socioeconomic status, life-situation, or even awareness of the Divine DNA within them.
• A spirituality of the present which creates awareness of the God of compassion who connects with us here and now will only empower conversation and imagination.
• Questions are as important if not more so than answers. It''s God''s gift to find the answers we seek wrapped within the questions we are willing to ask.

The individual or group process provided includes these steps: 1)exegete your particular community or cultural context, 2) explore ascriptural story, and then 3) envision next steps to engage incompassion within your community.