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

PARKER J. PALMER is senior associate of the American Association for Higher Education and senior advisor to the Fetzer Institute. In 1998, he was named one of the thirty most influential senior leaders in higher education. Author of such widely praised books as The Courage to Teach and To Know As We Are Known, he holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a member of the Religious Society of FriAnds (Quaker) and lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

From the best-selling author of The Courage To Teach comes a deep and compassionate guide to seeking your true calling in life by listening to the voice within. In this honest and compelling meditation, Parker Palmer reflects upon vocation, spirit and the life journey with a depth of insight that will touch anyone who yearns for an authentic way of standing and serving in the world. Using stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, Palmer raises the urgent question, "Is the life I am living my own?" The result is a moving and illuminating book.

Publishers Weekly

A gifted academic who formerly combined a college teaching career with community organizing, Palmer took a year's sabbatical to live at the "intentional" Quaker community of Pendle Hill in Pennsylvania. Instead of leaving at year's end, he became the community's dean of studies and remained there for 10 years. Palmer (The Courage to Teach) shares the lessons of his vocational and spiritual journey, discussing his own burnout and intense depression with exceptional candor and clarity. In essays that previously appeared in spiritual or educational journals and have been reworked to fit into this slim volume, he suggests that individuals are most authentic when they follow their natural talents and limitations, as his own story demonstrates. Since hearing one's "calling" requires introspection and self-knowledge (as suggested by the eponymous Quaker expression), Palmer encourages inner work such as journal-writing, meditation and prayer. Recognizing that his philosophy is at odds with popular, essentially American attitudes about self-actualization and following one's dreams, Palmer calls vocation "a gift, not a goal." He deftly illustrates his point with examples from the lives of people he admires, such as Rosa Parks, Annie Dillard and Vaclav Havel. A quiet but memorable addition to the inspirational field, this book has the quality of a finely worked homily. The writing displays a gentle wisdom and economy of style that leaves the reader curious for more insight into the author's Quaker philosophy. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Gratitudes.

Listening to Life.

Now I Become Myself.

When Way Closes.

All the Way Down.

Leading from Within.

There Is a Season.

Notes.

The Author.