Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Review

This small book is a real treasure, at once deeply wise and completely unpretentious. Palmer doesn't take himself too seriously; he is candid about his various struggles, yet also able to celebrate them as part of the human journey. While I'm hesitant to oversimplify its content, I would say that one of the most powerful of the book's themes is that both personal and professional dry spells, detours, and other "negative" experiences are virtually inevitable in even the most accomplished lives. Without being in any way pat or trite, each of the book's linked but freestanding essays reminds readers that false starts and failures are themselves valuable guideposts during the search for true vocation. As the title and subtitle suggest, Palmer believes that vocation is a thing to be listened for, and to, rather than being acted upon, rushed towards, decided on or otherwise forced. Consistent with this belief, Palmer doesn't force the reader to share his conclusions or offer any steps, tips, or advice; rather, he quietly tells his stories and allows the reader to make of them what he or she will.

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Feature

• ISBN13: 9780787947354
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Overview

With wisdom, compassion, and gentle humor, Parker J. Palmer invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose. Telling stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as fulfillment and joy, illuminating a pathway toward vocation for all who seek the true calling of their lives.

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Specifications

The old Quaker adage, "Let your life speak," spoke to author Parker J. Palmer when he was in his early 30s. It summoned him to a higher purpose, so he decided that henceforth he would live a nobler life. "I lined up the most elevated ideals I could find and set out to achieve them," he writes. "The results were rarely admirable, often laughable, and sometimes grotesque.... I had simply found a 'noble' way of living a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart."

Thirty years later, Palmer now understands that learning to let his life speak means "living the life that wants to live in me." It involves creating the kind of quiet, trusting conditions that allow a soul to speak its truth. It also means tuning out the noisy preconceived ideas about what a vocation should and shouldn't be so that we can better hear the call of our wild souls. There are no how-to formulas in this extremely unpretentious and well-written book, just fireside wisdom from an elder who is willing to share his mistakes and stories as he learned to live a life worth speaking about. --Gail Hudson

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 09, 2010 15:50:04