Conspiracy of Compassion, The

Spiritual Life, Fall 1998 by Weaver, Judith

The Conspiracy of Compassion. By Joseph Nassal, CPPS. Forest of Peace Publishing: Easton, KS, 1997. $10.95.

"We cannot understand the spirituality of compassion as the conspiracy it seeks to create until we take a trip to the dark side of life and seek to understand the suffering, the brokenness, the pain of others," Nassal proposes. In taking a trip to the dark side of his own life in order to understand the suffering of his brother Ed, who battled schizophrenia and took his life in 1986, Nassal journeys with the reader into the heart of the mystery of compassion, making the reader a coconspirator in the drama of vital spiritual life.

Why a co-conspirator? Because, as Nassal masterfully shows, each person shares with the CreatorRedeemer-Spirit the act of breathing new life and healing over the chaos and wounds of human nature. Compassion is an act of breathing together for goodness sake. It creates families and communities in which persons pour themselves out for each other. In this conspiracy of compassion, we probe the wounds of the risen Christ and find our own wounds healed in the process. Nassal unabashedly examines his own soul for evidence of missed opportunities for compassion and tellingly shares stories of others' compassionate acts and attitudes. So compelling is the scriptural and reallife delineation of compassion that the reader is left no refuge against this invasive virtue: "When we open ourselves to the promise, even in our pain, we inhale the very breath of God." The Conspiracy of Compassion could well serve as guidebook through life's Lents toward Easter and beyond: "The shadow of the Cross is created by the light of the Resurrection."

Judith Weaver is a free-lance writer and has previously contributed to Spiritual Life.