sometimes the best ministry books aren’t really about ministry at all.
from neurosurgeon fred epstein’s if i get to five:
“we’ve learned that keeping ourselves open to the emotional as well as physical pain around us doesn’t come naturally; retreating from other people’s pain does. compassion isn’t a passive state. it’s an act of will, an act of courage; the courage to cope with every parent’s worst nightmare, the courage to be emotionally honest, the courage to risk having your heart broken, the courage to care enough to push yourself to do what’s scariest.
i used to think that courage meant taking on the toughest cases, being the guy who dared to make the life-and-death judgment calls in the operating room. i now know that holding a child’s hand while he undergoes chemotherapy can be a lot scarier than holding his life in my hands during an operation.”
