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A few months ago, the editors at Real Simple asked our very own Jim Liske to share his take on the virtue of compassion with their eight million readers. In the November issue, now on newsstands, Prison Fellowship‘s president and CEO voices the importance of caring for prisoners and their families.
The article, “5 Small Ways to Show Compassion,” features the wise words of five diverse leaders who each share their best tip for expressing compassion. Jim’s advice is “see yourself in them.” He briefly recounts the personal story of his nephew’s incarceration–an encounter that provided him with a new sense of empathy for families struggling with situations like his. Once we recognize that any of us could be facing similar challenges, it becomes easier to extend compassion to others in the same way God has extended grace to us.
With more than two million Americans behind bars, every community is home to families in need of our support as they face the challenges associated with incarceration. In the article, Jim mentions a couple ways we can reach out in compassion to prisoners and their families: by coming alongside children who are growing up while their parents are incarcerated or advocating for legislation that supports restorative justice and promotes beneficial in-prison programming.
As the holiday season approaches, we hope these ideas will spur Real Simple readers to put their compassion in action!
You can read the full article featuring Jim on realsimple.com.