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Religious Book Store > Religious books beginning with H
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A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life |
Author: Parker J. Palmer
Published: 2004-09-22 |
List price: $22.95
Our price: $15.61
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As of: December 04th, 2008 12:50:39 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Living with Integrity
Parker Palmer takes the title of this book from Thomas Merton who claimed that "There is in all things...a hidden wholeness." Parker draws on his own experiences and work with educators, clergy, politicians, community organizers, parents, doctors, lawyers, and people of other walks of life to build "circles of trust" where the shy soul can speak its own truth with conviction without denying the truth of anyone else's soul.
The first chapter offers images of integrity - "the state or quality of being entire, complete, and unbroken....unimpaired, unadulterated, or genuine state, corresponding to its original condition." Through his own stories of disclosure, Parker Palmer invites the reader to look deeply within for the dividedness of life - where we extinguish parts of ourselves - and to embrace brokenness as an integral part of who we are. The signs of a divided life are explored in Chapter 2.
In Chapters 3 - 5 Palmer outlines how the soul and role in life can be reunited into a life of wholeness. Drawing on his Quaker roots, Palmer invites the reader to consult the "inner teacher," which Thomas Merton called the true self, Buddhists call original nature, Hasidic Jews call a spark of the divine, and humanists call identity and integrity. Palmer explores the paradox of our solitary journey toward an undivided life in community - a special community of trust, a circle of trust.
Palmer uses a metaphor to describe the deepest part of our being: the soul is like a wild animal.
Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places....If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if we will walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently at the base of a tree, breathe with the earth, and fade into our surroundings, the wild creature we seek might put in an appearance.
Chapters 5-9 outline the preparations required to embark on the journey to wholeness and describes in detail practices necessary to create a community of trust where the soul feels safe enough to show up and make its claim on our lives. The final chapter challenges the reader to use the principles and practices developed in the book to walk the path of nonviolence.
This book is a rich resource for all who yearn for greater wholeness and integrity in life.
Wholeness for a healthy organization
I was inspired to write page after page in my personal journal after reading the first few chapters. This book was used as the foundation for facilitator training for a week long retreat for The Center for Formation in Higher Education. I especially appreciate the use of metaphor to illustrate the many paradoxes in our lives as we call upon the shy inner teacher. The explanations and examples are clear.
Perfect Balance
Mr Palmer has distilled his life experience for us through his authentic and well written book. If know you are on a journey go no farther until you have read this book for its practical and uplifting content.
Livegiving!
The guiding image of this book is a rope tied from a house to the barn, which helps the farmer back home in case of a blizzard. The book does exactly that. It helped me find my true self in the midst of a storm.
A Guidepost
What an excellent book! Parker Palmer has quickly become one of my favorite authors. The imagery of the midwestern blizzard and early farmers lost in storms in thier own backyards as an analogy of the social and psychological turmoils we face today was masterful. Palmer's outline of steps toward awakening and the promise of the continual journey toward wholeness was inspiring. I highly recommend this book to all of us who are aware of the infinite potential of mankind and are struggling to maximize our own potential.
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