Let Your Life Speak

One of the books I read towards the end of the semester was Parker Palmer's "Let Your Life Speak." This book was recommended to me as a part of the "processing and reflecting period" after my trip to South Africa last summer with LoveWorks. I finally ended up reading it and finished a few weeks ago and have really enjoyed it. The book gives a holistic focus on vocation and guides the reader through listening to the inner self as they seek to find a sense of meaning and purpose, while preparing to use that voice as they find the "true calling of their life."

He shares two powerful quotes within the course of the book that seemed to stick out to me as I finished...

"The place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need."
(Frederick Buechner on vocation)

"Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving will be thin and short-lived. and that is not what the poor need; it will only impoverish them further. Give only if you have something you must give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward." (Dorothy Day)

Palmer shares many stories that highlight the need for being true to oneself before truly fulfilling your call. In one of his sections called "Out of the Shadow and into the Light," he talks about the shadows of leadership...

"The best leaders in every setting reward people for taking worthwhile risks even if they are likely to fail. These leaders know that the death of an initiative--if it was tested for good reasons--is always a source of new learning. The gift we receive on the inner journey is the knowledge that death finally comes to everything--and yet death does not have the final word. By allowing something to die when its time is due, we create the conditions under which new life can emerge."

I thoroughly valued reading "Let Your Life Speak" and have quickly become a fan of Parker Palmer's work. I've since begun reading another book of his called "The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America's Public Life" and look forward to finishing it in the next week.