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

by Parker J. Palmer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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 (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #210,795 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.

13 of 13 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

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.