The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America's Public Life [Paperback]

Parker J. Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1983

In this award-winning book, Parker J. Palmer offers a compelling vision of a disciplined inward search that strengthens our commitment to our communities. Palmer reminds us that a truly profound spiritual life leads us toward the God who makes us a community.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: The Crossroad Publishing Company (December 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824506014
• ISBN-13: 978-0824506018
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #438,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PARKER J. PALMER is a writer, teacher and activist whose work speaks deeply to people in many walks of life. He is founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal. His books include "A Hidden Wholeness," "Let Your Life Speak," "The Courage to Teach," "The Active Life," "To Know as We Are Known," "The Company of Strangers," "The Promise of Paradox," "The Heart of Higher Education," and "Healing the Heart of Democracy." He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as ten honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. In 1998, the Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 educators, named him one of the thirty most influential senior leaders in higher education and one of the ten key agenda-setters of the past decade. In 2010, he was given the William Rainey Harper Award (previously won by Margaret Mead, Marshall McLuhan, Paulo Freire, and Elie Wiesel). "Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer," was published in 2005. In 2011, the Utne Reader named him as one of "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World"--people who "don't just think out loud but who walk their talk on a daily basis." (See the Oct-Nov 2011 print or online edition.) He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Palmer makes public life appealing again., February 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America's Public Life (Paperback)

Palmer depicts public life as pre-political -- a life of festivity
including block parties and theatre. He makes the point that without
public spaces in which strangers can learn to become comfortable
with each other, able to trust each other, a political life is an
impossibility. He makes a case for the significance of the stranger
in Christian and Jewish scriptures. He suggests that the mystery
of God is experienced in the mystery of the stranger, and that
living our religious beliefs in response to the stranger is a way
of encountering the mystery of God. He also sees churches and
synagogues as training grounds for developing the skills necessary
for public life. This is an inspiring book.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Public education for democratic renewal, March 23, 2001

By 

Robert L. Rose (Blooming Glen, PA, 18911-0064, Bucks County,United States)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America's Public Life (Paperback)

In The Company of Strangers, a strikingly relevant book even after nearly twenty years, noted educator Parker J. Palmer describes public experience as our "life among strangers with whom our lot is cast, with whom we are interdependent whether we like it or not." And the educational process is one "which brings us out of ourselves into an awareness of our connectedness." At its core, public education recognizes the fundamental dignity of a "relationship rooted in our common humanity." Public education then, unlike private forms, will consciously underscore the shared primary elements of social experience without giving preferential treatment to limited secondary characteristics based on wealth, economic status, race, religion or ideology.

"In this process," Palmer continues, "opinions become audible and accountable and individuals learn that private viewpoints have implications for the common good. Under the pressure of accountability religious discourse may be forced to reach for the essentials which unite us." In contrast to withdrawal from public participation into private enclaves of conspicuous consumption or of opting to participate only as a convinced crusader invincibly armored to fend of responsible dialogue, Palmer notes that "public life becomes the spiritual guide of our private life." Truth, he continues, "is a very large matter, and requires various angles of vision to be seen in the round." Such an assessment of public experience is, in my view, what makes American education a "very large matter," requiring each of us to renew the commitment to public education. In this way we may be drawn out of ourselves to the point where our angle of vision allows us to see and to respect the common ground we share with others.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, December 13, 2009

By 

Robert (TN, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America's Public Life (Paperback)

This book is a bit older -- early 80s I think -- but very timely. Discusses the importance of everyday, seemingly insignificant public interactions and their role in building community. Well worth a look. Palmer is writing from a Christian perspective (see subtitle), but the book would hold interest for anyone interested in building better communities.