Healing the Heart of Democracy MP3 CD – Unabridged, January 13, 2015
by Parker J. Palmer (Author), Stefan Rudnicki (Reader)
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At a critical time in American life, Parker J. Palmer looks with realism and hope at how to deal with our political tensions for the sake of the common good—without the shouting, blaming, or defaming so common in our politics today.
In his newest audiobook, Parker J. Palmer builds on his own extensive experience as an inner life explorer and social change activist to examine the personal and social infrastructure of American politics. What he did for educators in The Courage to Teach he does here for citizens by looking at the dynamics of our inner lives for clues to reclaiming our civic well-being. In Healing the Heart of Democracy, he points the way to a politics rooted in the commonwealth of compassion and creativity still found among "We the People."
"Democracy," writes Palmer, "is a non-stop experiment in the strengths and weaknesses of our political institutions, local communities, and the human heart—and its outcome can never be taken for granted. The experiment is endless, unless we blow up the lab, and the explosives to do the job are found within us. But so also is the heart's alchemy that can turn suffering into compassion, conflict into community, and tension into energy for creativity amid democracy's demands."
Healing the Heart of Democracy names the "habits of the heart" we need to revitalize our politics and shows how they can be formed in the everyday venues of our lives. Palmer proposes practical and hopeful methods to hold the tensions of our differences in a manner that can help restore a government "of the people, by the people, for the people."
Parker J. Palmer
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Biography
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 Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as 13 honorary doctorates, 2 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 30 most influential senior leaders in higher education and one of the 10 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). In 2011, the Utne Reader named him as one of "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.” For two decades years, the Accrediting Commission for Graduate Medical Education has given annual Parker J. Palmer “Courage to Teach” and “Courage to Lead” Awards to directors of exemplary medical residency programs. "Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer," was published in 2005. Born and raised in the Chicago area, he lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Dennis C. Roberts
4.0 out of 5 stars Parker Palmer offers wise insights in "Healing the heart of democracy"
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2016
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Palmer wrote Healing… before the U.S.A. election of 2016; however, the concerns he raised have become even more evident this last year. Palmer’s view is that in order to make the Constitutional assurance of “We the People…” work, we need to speak to those beyond “our own” and we must cease to demonize those who have ideas different than ours. Examples of the struggles Abraham Lincoln faced leading up to and during the Civil War are offered throughout the book, providing contextualization that puts our own times in perspective. The rights of diverse others was a central disagreement of the Civil War and it appears that diversity has again driven a wedge between us.
Hope in our future can be recaptured by recognizing the mutual heartbreak of a government that doesn’t work and of communities divided by class and culture. “When we hold suffering in a way that opens us to greater compassion, heartbreak becomes a source of healing, deepening our empathy for others who suffer and extending our ability to reach out to them.” (p. 22) The relative stagnation of the U.S. economy is clearly a source of much of the heartbreak that many citizens share. “When material progress falters… people become more jealous of their status relative to others” (p. 64); the jealousy then results in scapegoating others instead of working to problem solving our way to a more prosperous community.
Palmer’s optimist views have contributed much food for thought for those of us committed to a creating a better and more equitable world. His views are also realistic and have been documented in communities of hope where healing is underway. His historical and contemporary analyses of these places led him to discern four stages that are key in the process – “deciding to live ‘divided no more,’ forming communities of congruence, going public with a vision, and transforming the system of punishment and reward.” (p. 189)
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Leslie
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Message We Need Right Now!
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2017
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I'm recommending 'Healing the Heart of Democracy' to everyone I know!
It's timely exchange is healing my heart by reminding me that goodness, respect and honest two way communication are powerful tools to repair what seems to be broken.
After the bitter division in America following the presidential race I was disheartened and found no way out of the mess we had fallen into as a people.
Parker J Palmer is a kind and sensible voice that cuts right through the noise. He offers solutions that each one of us can consider & take up to reconnect with our ideals of a united and creative nation. I continue to be moved and my spirit rehabilitated in the realization that we can move toward a democracy of All the People, where the object is to evolve into a new and better country.
15 people found this helpful
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Robert Dale Leber
5.0 out of 5 stars Polarization is getting worse and worse
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2016
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I have worried and wondered for 15 plus years about the declining skill of our elected representatives at all levels, Federal, State and local.. I have tried to visualize ways that these opposing ideologies can find common ground for dialogue. Polarization is getting worse and worse. I see no end in sight but chaos and the destruction of our nation from within. What this book is helping me realize is that you can't eliminate all differences. In fact, democracy needs differences to thrive., while "we the people" work toward identifying a common goal then being patient while we all work toward solutions for the good of all . Our present directions are going to destroy the "real democracy" that this nation was born out of and without that democracy we will not be able to survive as "we the people" were intended. We the people are contributing as much to the destruction of of government as our elected representatives. We all have a lot of work to do to turn the tide.
6 people found this helpful
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Darla
5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly moving as well as quite practical
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2016
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Spectacular and profound, this book is one that I wish everyone could read, especially in this year of political controversy. I have been inspired to open up conversation among others, starting with my own family. Truly, how can we expect politicians to engage respectfully and with decency if we cannot dialogue with our own family members and friends who may believe differently than we do? The author of this book has done a brilliant job of providing not only inspiration but practical suggestions. It is not so much about the issues, or where we are standing politically, but rather about the discussions we need to be having in our communities. I wish I could give this book 6 stars!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Healing is our goal
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017
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Parker Palmer is another hero of mine. A fantastic communicator with loads of kindness and courage.
I think the method of healing proposed in this book will work and for some is working already as those who have read it tend to gather for the purpose of practicing and sharing the lessons offered therein. The central message of this book is that there is room for all of us in this world, it is just a matter of gaining the courage to make the renewal requried in our time possible.
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R. Meinke
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the material selected from the writings of de Tocqueville
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2017
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An outstanding book. Loved the material selected from the writings of de Tocqueville. Local school systems in the area get/recruit tutors from local congregations. Students in our local schools need to appreciate the dedication of our teachers, helpers in our communities, etc... We just cannot accept an average of only 4.5 years for our teachers. They need our support "to make America great again."
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Lauren B
5.0 out of 5 stars Roadmap for Revolutionaries
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2017
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This book lays out a framework for moving from frustration to political change guided by your heart. Reading it is a cathartic experience in the current political climate. I hIghly recommend it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars The discussion guide is great for individual reflection or a small group process
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2017
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Once again, Parker Palmer finds words for that which we need to hear but cannot speak ourselves.This book is exactly what is needed during these times of political turmoil, to move out of fear and chaos into a balanced, healthy view of our political system. This book reinforces that there is indeed a heart at the center of democracy, ours currently needs healing, and we are empowered to be part of that process. The discussion guide is great for individual reflection or a small group process.
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Sejin,
Sejin, start your review of Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit
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robin friedman
Oct 04, 2019robin friedman rated it really liked it
The Politics Of The Brokenhearted
In times of national difficulty, it is both tempting and desirable to step back, reflect upon the situation, and see what might be done to make things better. The process might carry its own danger in the rush to either easy or impracticable answers. I took the opportunity offered by the Amazon Vine program to read Parker J. Palmer's new book "Healing the Heart of Democracy: the Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit" for the insight it might have on our national situation as witnessed by the recent budget and debt-ceiling deliberations and their aftermath. Palmer wrote his book before these events occured, but they make his examination all the more timely. Palmer (b.1939) received his PhD in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970. This book was my first exposure to his work, but he is a noted writer on educational and social issues with a focus on spirituality.
I liked a good deal of this book especially its personal tone. Palmer tries to combine events and feelings in his life, and the way in which he reflects upon them, with our national experience as Americans. He uses throughout the figure of the "habits of the heart", the title of a book by Robert Beulah which derives from de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America". Palmer discusses his own experiences of loss, disappointment and "brokenheartedness" in his life. When these experiences occur, the spirit, or the heart can be shattered. The better course is to put the pieces together, use disappointment creatively, integrate conflicting feelings and move ahead from weakness to strength. So it is, for Palmer, in a democracy.
Palmer offers some inspiring stories to illustrate what he means. He describes meeting with members of a small African American church in rural Georgia in 1974 who showed the strength and discipline to carry on in hard times. He describes meeting a New York City cabdriver who, while navigating the city streets, explained that the attraction of his job was that it allowed him to hear and consider the varied opinions of the many different types of people who rode in his cab. He praises openness to difficulty and a willingness to accept tensions -- in the form of divergent opinions -- and work through them. Palmer also makes excellent use of historical figures. Abraham Lincoln emerges as the hero of the book for his ability to overcome his own demon of depression and for his attempt to reconcile tensions in a crisis as shown by both his First and Second Inaugural Addresses. Alexis de Tocqueville, for his diagnosis of the strengths and weakness of American democracy also receives valuable discussion. Palmer explains his own conclusions in a few words: "We must be able to say in unison: It is in the common good to hold our political differences and the conflicts they create in a way that does not unravel the civic community on which democracy depends."
There is an excellent focus in the book on commonality and civic life, as witnessed in the use of public streets, bookstores, pubs, libraries and other places where people of different backgrounds and persuasions can meet and get to understand one another. I am writing this review, as I generally do, in a public library, largely because I share Palmer's commitment to the use of public space. Palmer also emphasizes the value of people explaining to one another the reasons why the believe what they do on important, controversial matters, based upon their own experiences without attempting to demonize someone who thinks differently. I tried to follow this good advice after reading the book, as I exchanged lengthy emails with a close friend who holds an opinion different from mine on same sex marriage. Perhaps it helped to air the reasons for one's belief and to understand those of another person.
I liked aspects of this book less well. Palmer does not always handle well his own project of openness to ideas with which he disagrees. He frequently translates his project into support for his own distinct agenda and tends to belittle those who think differently. In a passage early in the book Palmer shows awareness that he does this as he comes close to demonizing his political opponents, perhaps by reducing them to straw men ("Get me going on politicians who distort my faith tradition to win votes or on racial bigots and homophobes who want to translate their personal shadows into public policy, and this nice Quaker boy from the Midwest does a passable imitation of the Incredible Hulk") before half-heartedly catching himself and falling back. There is a good deal of cliche and half-formed ideas in this book intertwined with much that is insightful. I found, for example, Palmer all--too--quick in his uncompromising discussion and rejection of "consumerism". Although Palmer has much good to say about the need to both develop and hold one's opinions and to have a degree of modesty and humility in thinking about the opinions of others, his use of the overused term "chutzpah" distorts and distracts from his point. His discussion of American public education, I thought, made a variety of points, some good, some questionable. In places, I thought Palmer was expecting too much from ordinary citizens. Democracy, and the American political process, was made to accomodate a degree of human weakness. And some of the thinking in the book I thought wooly and undeveloped.
This is a worthwhile book to read and to think through. It has many insights but it is not a panacea, in my view, for understanding the current condition of American democracy. Like much other writing, the book deserves to be read but read critically and with skepticism.
Robin Friedman (less)
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Elizabeth
Aug 04, 2012Elizabeth rated it liked it
Parker Palmer has some important, insightful, and inspiring ideas about democracy, but I often found myself bored with this book, only becoming interested when he illustrated his philosophical point with a real-world example. (So this criticism may be more about my lack of attention span than Palmer's writing, but so be it.)
Nevertheless, this is worth a read: talking about everything from the decline of public spaces to partisanship to our educational system, Palmer argues that we need to strengthen our ability to "creatively hold tension" in our hearts. By enduring the tension of conflict, we can learn to sit with each others divergent ideas and come to new understandings and agreements. I particularly like the way he differentiates a broken heart from a heart that has been broken open, so much the better to let in compassion and new ideas. (less)
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Michael Kruse
Feb 11, 2012Michael Kruse rated it it was ok
Shelves: christian-life, politics
I have really appreciated Parker Palmer's books over the years but this book is a profound disappointment. I quit reading at the halfway point. If you are a liberal/progressive, then I suspect you may enjoy the book. It plays very well into the meme that at core of the discord in our country are conservatives. I can't help but feel that Palmer missed an opportunity.
I know he is a Quaker pacifist. I've suspected his political views were to the left based on other writing I've seen. I have no problem with that. But his topic is "Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit." Every few pages he trots out examples of the values and misbehavior that are contrary to his aims and they are invariably those of conservative citizens (without him ever explicitly saying this.) The outrageous values and misbehavior of the left are not on his radar. And that is the problem.
We each see our opponents actions as threatening and crazy but we feel justified in our threatening and crazy behavior because we know our opponents wrong. That is how Tea Party rallies (where some park service people report that participants left venues as clean or better than when they came) can be dubbed terrible hate-filled racist mob, while the Occupy Movement with its illegal occupation of property, vandalism, defecating and urinating on police vehicles and passersby, is heralded as a wonderful expression in Democracy. (I actually think both movements are hopeful signs of our democracy, that both have their excesses.) That is how there can be obsessive anger at activists talking about death panels, while be oblivious to the President calling Congress terrorists and hostage takers, as well as the VP and leading Democrats talking about Republican desires to kill people.
The first step in restoring democracy is to resolve not to use other people's bad behavior as excuse for your own. I don't think Palmer is there. I will continue to give his "Let Your Life Speak" book to others as gifts. I still think his "The Active Life" book is one of the best books I've read. But this book simply isn't worth my time. (less)
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Joyce
Feb 17, 2017Joyce rated it liked it
Shelves: inspiration
Published in 2011, this book still rings true, perhaps even more so. We Americans have been greatly divided for a long time and sadly to say, remain so today.
This book discusses how we Americans can strive to bridge that gap because: "When we forget that politics is about weaving a fabric of compassion and justice on which everyone can depend, the first to suffer are the most vulnerable among us -- our children, our elderly, our mentally ill, our poor and our homeless. As they suffer, so does the integrity of our democracy." And so, "Every time we fail to bridge our differences, we succumb to the divide-and-conquer tactics so skillfully deployed by individuals and institutions whose objective is to take us out of the political equation. We the People then become fearful and suspicious of each other and widen the gap further."
This book challenges us to realize that we can do something about this gap, not only by becoming politically active, but by simple acts of listening to one another, finding the common ground from which to build upon and more.
The book is well researched and direct. This book is for those who would like to help make our democracy better and trying to figure out how to work in that direction. (less)
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George
Dec 08, 2019George rated it liked it
Shelves: political-and-social-critique
Important and wise but it wasn’t revelatory for me. It was a good summary of needed principles but maybe in way that felt too theoretical and abstract.
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Kyra deGruy Kennedy
Apr 13, 2017Kyra deGruy Kennedy rated it it was amazing
I love Parker J Palmer SO much. This book was divine. Both practical and emotional, it completely shifted my perspective about divisiveness and how to bridge the gap between polarities. Highly recommend!
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Kathrina
Jun 22, 2018Kathrina rated it really liked it
Shelves: teaching-social-justice-working-gro
Really useful.
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Payson Rigsbee
Nov 12, 2020Payson Rigsbee rated it really liked it
great book, chapters were too long for me but that’s personal preference. truly loved the ‘habits of the heart’ very thought-provoking, especially for people deeply engaged in the political process.
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Dnicebear
Jan 19, 2012Dnicebear rated it it was amazing
Yes! I want to be involved in democracy that stays rooted in reality while dreaming of possibility and is willing to enter the gap between the two to bring it about. Parker Palmer has encouraged me in previous books to see myself as a teacher and to let my life speak. Now, I'm with him again into this exploration into being part of "we the people" in a way that allows respect and true sharing of who we are. "Life in the company of strangers" really seems possible here, and in a way that honors the human heart. Terry Tempest Williams speaks of the heart as the "first home of democracy." Parker goes on to say: "If our hearts are large and supple enough to hold the tensions of democracy's basic questions in a life-giving way, they produce ideas and ideals that feed a living democracy. If our hearts are so small and brittle that they implode or explode under tension, they produce 'ideals' like Aryan supremacy and 'ideas' like the Nazis' 'Endlosung,' their chilling, 'final solution.'" (p. 152) (less)
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Deidra
Jan 02, 2017Deidra rated it really liked it
So many people say they "don't do/talk about politics" when nothing could be further from the truth. We all do politics every day. Our unwillingness to engage politics thoughtfully is what hinders a lot of forward movement, but some of our unwillingness comes from a lack of voices encouraging us to think differently about politics so that we can talk differently about politics. Parker J. Palmer does a great job of helping to reframe the role of politics in everyday life so that we can each be better stewards of our role as people in a political context. I wish it had been required reading before the last few US presidential election cycles. (less)
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