One of the most enjoyable parts of writing a book is when the book is actually written, edited, printed, etc. and you can hold in your hands and think, I made this. God birthed this through me. It’s not unlike having a child.

But not exactly, of course—when I had kids no one asked me to be on radio or television programs to talk about them. And books sleep through the night, no problem. And you never have to teach them to drive, even when they get to be 15 years old. But I digress.

I have a new book out this month, which means I’ve had the opportunity to be a guest on several radio programs, and one television show (The Harvest Show, out of beautiful South Bend, IN), to talk about my new book, Simple Compassion.

I’ve been asked some interesting questions. Things like–what is compassion? What is justice? Are they the same? How can we become more compassionate?

I believe compassion begins with awareness. When we become aware of how our actions affect others, we can be more compassionate. Justice to me is about trying to change things—righting wrongs. Compassion fuels justice.

These days you hear the words “social justice” thrown around a lot. My new book, Simple Compassion, is actually a primer on social justice. I wrote it for people like me, who are waking up to the fact that God is deeply concerned for the fate of the poor, and that he wants us to do more than just charity.

I believe justice and compassion start at home. If you spend hours volunteering at a soup kitchen or even going on mission trips, that’s great—but what about the people you live with? What about the neighbor down the street who is lonely and needs someone to visit or help her get groceries? What about the people in your church you are holding a grudge against? Every person is the neighbor we are to love.

Simple Compassion offers information that will help you become more aware of the plight of the poor, both nearby and around the world. It also spells out very practical, small but important steps you can take to make a difference. God cares about injustice—so living our faith means addressing injustice—even injustice we are blissfully unaware of.

Take, for example, a stroll through your favorite grocery or discount store this month. Crowding the shelves are bags of inexpensive chocolate. While we may see nothing unjust about buying a bag of sweets—who is it hurting, other than our waistlines? The fact is, most chocolate comes from cocoa plantations in Africa, where the workers are basically slaves—and many of them are children. To buy this chocolate is to support slave labor, which is unjust.

Thankfully, you can buy Fair Trade chocolate, which is produced on farms where the workers are paid a fair wage. (You can read more about this in my book). Now, it is slightly more expensive, but I think it tastes better. If you are interested in handing some out this Halloween, here’s a website that offers slave-free treats—which will both support Fair Trade farmers and educate your trick-or-treaters a bit on global economics. Here is the website.

Or just Google “fair trade chocolate” to find more sources.

If you can’t afford to hand out Fair Trade chocolate to all your trick-or-treaters, supplement the candy bowl with other non-chocolate candies. And when you buy chocolate for yourself, buy Fair Trade.

Justice requires us to think of what would be fair for everyone, not just for us. In her excellent book Everyday Justice (reviewed below) Julie Clawson points out that the biblical ideas of “justice” or “righteousness” were inextricably linked. Righteousness was not just personal piety, but also right action toward others. “Justice, in this sense, involves restoring broken relationships between people, and putting right all the ways sin and injustice harm ourselves, each other and the world,” she writes.

We cannot right every injustice in the world. We cannot show compassion to every hurting person. But if we each took just one small step, to make a difference, if we changed just one thing about our buying habits or the way we treat the people in our own neighborhood, we could change the world.

                               Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
                              To loose the chains of injustice
                                    And untie the cords of the yoke,
                              To set the oppressed free,
                                    And break every yoke?

How are your buying and consumption choices linked to your spiritual life? Do you think God cares what sort of things you buy? Why or why not?