Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Hardcover – September 10, 1999

I was extremely disappointed with this book (likely because I had read so many wonderful things about it and had high expectations). I have been struggling with an internal need to discover my passion in life and incorporate that into my vocation; this book was highly recommended as the most helpful tool possible in that journey, but I found it to be quite the opposite.

The author spends at least 3/4 of the book discussing his own life and experiences. While I can appreciate how those experiences could generally be used to illustrate a point, I don't feel that end was met. It read more like a biography with the occasional motivational quote and offered very little insight in terms of how to actually "let your life speak".

This book was not for me...at all. However, the writer is clearly very accomplished and talented at what he does. His words flowed beautifully and I respect him immensely as a capable writer. I am tempted to read other works by him because I enjoyed his writing style; I believe my issue is only with what I was expecting to get (and did not) from this book.

I am a secular/agnostic/humanist and the book was a little heavy on religious references for me. I have a difficult time relating to religiously-/spiritually-charged messages on a personal level and as such, perhaps I was not able to fully appreciate the true scope of what Dr. Palmer was attempting to convey. The chapter that covered clinical depression was an exception to this assertion, though, as I felt he covered the topic beautifully.

Looking at it objectively, a spiritual individual who is experiencing the same internal struggle I am will probably benefit greatly from this book - I just don't think there are many take away points for secular individuals like myself.

Yikes. It's almost December--and then we'll blink and raise a glass to the New Year, and do it all over again--expecting different results. Yikes, again.

So...before you grieve another year of unfulfilled promises to yourself (career-wise or other)--invest 109 pages in your calling. Read. Reflect. Listen. Pray. Discern. Jump.

Parker Palmer's stunning quick-read, "Let Your Life Speak," will help you think backwards and forwards. And his confession--that he failed to listen to his heart and squandered valuable years--is a warning to all of us (no matter how many candles on our last cake)...that vocation and calling matter.

He begins:
-- "...a funny thing happened on the way to my vocation."
--He was guided by Frederick Buechner's inspiring insight: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

He confesses:
--"I had simply found a `noble' way to live a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart."

He learned:
--"Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent."
--"My youthful understanding of `Let your life speak' led me to conjure up the highest values I could imagine and then try to conform my life to them whether they were mine or not."

He adds: "If that sounds like what we are supposed to do with values, it is because that is what we are too often taught. There is a simplistic brand of moralism among us that wants to reduce the ethical life to making a list, checking it twice--against the index in some best-selling book of virtues, perhaps--and then trying very hard to be not naughty but nice."

He explains the book's subtitle, "Listening for the Voice of Vocation" with this:
--"Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening."
--"Vocation [rooted in the Latin for `voice'] does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am."

Parker Palmer's Quaker roots add color and authenticity to this remarkable little book--a collection of essays, edited into a book-length gem.

It's tough to narrow down my favorites stories--I read most of them to my wife, Joanne--but certainly these two:

Favorite Story #1: The Clearness Committee.
A presidential search committee for a small educational institution invited Palmer for an interview. "So as is the custom in the Quaker community, I called on half a dozen trusted friends to help me discern my vocation by means of a `clearness committee,' a process in which the group refrains from giving you advice but spends three hours asking you honest, open questions to help discover your inner truth. (Looking back, of course, it is clear that my real intent in convening this group was not to discern anything but to brag about being offered a job I had already decided to accept!)

Gulp! One stunning question rocked his world (see pages 44-46)--and he said no to a career-enhancing opportunity.

Favorite Story #2: Outward Bound.
Hanging from a cliff, 110 feet above ground in his first Outward Bound experience (more like "Outward Down"), Palmer had a profound moment (pages 82-85). Later he reflected, "I chose the weeklong course at Hurricane Island, off the coast of Maine. I should have known from that name what was in store for me; next time I will sign up for the course at Happy Gardens or Pleasant Valley!"

He describes five shadow-casting monsters: First, "insecurity about identity and worth." Next, "the belief that the universe is a battleground, hostile to human interests."

The third one is a real poke-in-the-ribs. "A third shadow common among leaders is `functional atheism,' the belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us. This is the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen--a conviction held even by people who talk a good game about God."

The fourth shadow is fear, "especially our fear of the natural chaos of life. Many of us--parents and teachers and CEOs--are deeply devoted to eliminating all remnants of chaos from the world."

The fifth shadow that leaders project is, "paradoxically, the denial of death itself." He's savvy! "Leaders who participate in this denial often demand that the people around them keep resuscitating things that are no longer alive." If you're working on a strategic plan right now, you must read pages 89 to 91!

Think about this:

"We will become better teachers not by trying to fill the potholes in our souls but by knowing them so well that we can avoid falling into them." So...who is helping you identify your potholes--and how might that impact your "true self" vocation?

Review on "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker Palmer

Parker Palmer's book, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (2000) is an incredible self-reflection on the concept of vocation. Drawing on his own experiences, Palmer offers an intimate and honest analysis of his personal story in finding fulfillment, which will aid the reader in determining his or her own course in life. With the sage advice that only comes from a traveler who has trekked the way before, Palmer acts as a guide to vocation by showing the way with the wisdom gained from the walk on his own path.

Instead of the traditional understanding of vocation as some outward call, Palmer advocates that vocation is really a voice and a vision that comes from within. He writes that "Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you" (p. 3). This idea of listening to self, care of self, and inner self is not only illustrated through the life of the author but also in quotes and vignettes of spiritual and social leaders like Henri Nouwen, Fredrick Buechner, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Rosa Parks. Likewise, Palmer draws on his education and community organizer background as well as his Quaker faith and poetry to highlight these lessons. With complete transparency, vulnerability, and humility, Palmer explains how living in the "true self" is ultimately not some sort of desire for self-preservation, but actually a means to individual and communal renewal. The self is always connected to the social, and when the element of vocation is introduced, they come together in service. It is in the intertwining of personal awareness, spiritual formation, and community consciousness that one's life may speak the loudest and with greatest impact.

Parker Palmer's proclamation in Let Your Life Speak will help identify several critical elements needed for someone trying to define their Focused Life. The first of which is that of identity. A common question of self-reflection is to ask `who am I?' Palmer however contends that a better question to ask is `Whose am I?' While the first can resemble some narcissistic tendencies and inflation of ego, the latter recognizes the supremacy of God and His ownership in our lives. Since vocational callings come from within, we often find purpose out of the passions and gifts granted to us from the Creator. Secondly, Palmer differentiates the need for living out of authenticity rather than what others think ought to be. Addressing the pressures that are often placed on us by well-meaning outsiders, Palmer explains how these masks of expectation tend to be in conflict with the authentic self.

Finally, anyone studying the concepts of a Focused Life will surely come across literature emphasizing the need to build upon strengths. While this practice is certainly true for someone to become highly productive, Palmer states that, "life is not only about strengths and virtues; it is also about my liabilities and my limits, my trespasses and my shadow. An inevitable though often ignored dimension of the quest for `wholeness' is that we must embrace what we dislike or find shameful about ourselves as well as what we are confident and proud of"(p. 6-7). This holistic approach to self-awareness will yield a deeper understanding of not only capabilities but also act as the criteria needed for decision making and weighing opportunities.

This book resonated with me on several levels. Parker Palmer is certainly a change agent for the Kingdom that has helped thousands of people find meaning in vocation. A surprisingly connecting topic was Palmer's honest contemplation of his battle with depression. While I have never experienced depression myself, I have had several friends and family members struggle through the despair depression brings. Palmer's two insights for handling depression, first to speak to its importance and second, the rejection of simple "religious" and "scientific" answers, will benefit any future counseling I do in this manner. In addition, Palmer's last chapter, "There is a Season: From Language to Life" combined the metaphors of life as a journey and seedbed, to the natural cycle of seasons. In discussing autumn, Palmer compares growth with the paradox of the hidden wholeness that accompanies death. In order for new life to begin, the old must first pass away. In terms of winter, Palmer writes that the cold and snowy season is gift, reminding us for the need of rest and dormancy in order to have a healthy life. The dialogue around humus and humility for vibrant life in spring was incredibly encouraging. Palmer writes that "spring teaches me to look more careful for the green stems of possibility: for the intuitive hunch that may turn into larger insight" (p. 104).

Still yet, the section that struck me most in Let Your Life Speak, was chapter four "Leading from Within". Palmer essential states that leadership is example. Considering the interdependence in community, Palmer writes "if it is true that we are made for community, then leadership is everyone's vocation, and it can be an evasion to insist that it is not" (p. 74). In addition, Palmer promotes authentic leadership that comes from the heart as well as an understanding of spirituality along with technical abilities. In the final portion of the chapter on leadership and vocation, Palmer cautions about the five bestiary monsters to avoid or conquer by "getting into". It is these five monsters that wish to address in my personal integration of life and ministry. The first shadow-casting monster is that of insecurity. One of the biggest lies the Enemy attacks us with is the question of identity and by playing to our insecurities. The serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden with a question of both. Therefore as mentioned already, the identity of a ministry leader and anyone living with a Focused Life must define their reality and personality in Jesus Christ. The second monster is that of a battleground. Instead of caving to the competitive nature of flawed humans, I seek to advance a cooperative, creative and collaborative style of leadership. Rather than competing with one another, my team members will complete each other. The third monster to slay is that of "functional atheism" or the false belief that ultimate responsibility rests with the leader. I was warned young in my ministry calling from a wise mentor that `if I take the blame for failures in ministry I may one day take credit for the success in ministry". This of course is contrary to the servant model Jesus emphasized. Even the Son said he can do nothing apart from the Father and that he only does what he sees the Father doing (cf. John 5:19). The fourth monster is the fear of chaos. I feel that as an apostolically inclined ministry leader, I tend to be more entrepreneurial in nature and therefore more accepting of chaos. I know that for anyone or any organization to grow, change is required. This often assumes some sort of innovation and chaos. Finally, the fifth monster is the paradox in the denial of death. Again, as was covered in the discussion on fall and winter seasons, death is required for new life, as seen in the resurrection of Jesus.