When Parker Palmer wrote Let Your Life Speak, I doubt he expected me to endorse its message of differentiation. In fact, he probably wasn't thinking of his effort being cast as an entrepreneurial tool of any sort.

That's because the book is intended to help readers take on spiritual issues, such as finding a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives.

It's not a "how to" manual. There are no step-by-step instructions, nor pages titled "The Four Things You NEED TO KNOW about Vocation." Instead, the book is mostly about him: the zig-zags his life took as he learned (many times, the hard way) the nature of his true self. He uses his own personal journey to illustrate the nature of vocation, and the conflicts that confront us as we seek to understand it.

It's quite a journey -- he leaves UC Berkeley to become a Washington D.C. based community organizer, and from there goes on to become a Quaker, and then a writer, speaker, and activist.

If you're going through a period where you're asking questions like why you're here on this earth, his reflections will be meaningful to you.

If you're trying to figure out how to get more leads and sell more stuff, you've come to the good part. He writes:

Our problem as Americans... is that we resist the very idea of limits.... Our national myth is about the endless defiance of limits.... We refuse to take no for an answer.

Perseverance is vital, and it's important to know real limits from apparent limits. But, unless we take some time to reflect on who we are, of what we do well, and what we're passionate about, our temptation (and cultural inclination) is to try to be all things to all people.

Many years ago, Jack Trout wrote Differentiate or Die.

What I'm writing, right now, is that your differentiation must harness your passion. If you're not sure what it is or where it's coming from, you could do much worse than to spend some time reading this 109 page book.

I read this book at the suggestion of a counselor who is helping me through depression and lack of interest in my career. While I was touched by his insights and authenticity, I was nagged by the practical aspect (or lack thereof) of letting your life speak. Palmer seemed to have an endless amount of time and resources to find his true calling in life. How does this apply to people who struggle just to put food on the table, who lack the means to get a higher education, or who have a family to support? Palmer's journey seems to be a luxury that many can't afford. Also, he seems to gloss over the difficulties involved in discovering that you picked the wrong path- not only for the self, but for all the others involved (spouse, children, friends).

A lovely book, but too "pie in the sky" for me.

Books make great gifts. This is the one I give most often. I love Palmer's writing style and his message. As with his other books, Let Your Life Speak is well-organized and the concepts well developed.

In this era, in this culture, there are countless forces that urge us to ask the wrong question-- What should I do with my life? That question and related ones are evidence of the distorting, external pressures (oughts) that surround us. A more organic approach is, in Palmer's words, "Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you."

"Vocation," or calling, is a birthright gift to be received, not a goal to be achieved. Enabling its receipt requires that we listen to the voice inside each of us. True identity results from listening well, with effective service the extension of that knowledge.

The search for true self must not end with one's gifts. The journey into darkness, one's shadow, must be undertaken to complete the quest for authentic self. Those that befriend what they discover become whole and are least likely to project onto others. Finding one's vocation benefits everyone.

Palmer rightfully connects authenticity with social movements. Having found and united with other authentic individuals, those in a movement "refuse to sit at the back of the bus." The perturbed system yields to the logic of the movement, with many benefiting from the shift. The individual path toward true self not only rewards the pilgrim, its positive effects radiate in every-widening circles to even influence nation states.

I highly recommend this wisdom-filled book.

--Jack H. Bender, author of Disregarded: Transforming the School and Workplace through Deep Respect and Courage

A fantastic book!

This book has been my default purchase for people that are going through tough times, or people that are at a point of change in their lives (or should be). It is free of the "you-can-do-it-all" fluffiness. It brings a real, truthful and deep approach to life.

This is the kind of book that you not only read the words, but the spaces between the words. Great, great stuff. One of my all-time favorites.

A wonderful little book, and easy to read. This reflective little book looks into what "God's will" means in a practical modern life through a personal exploration of the author's own life. If you are looking for an insightful meditation on vocation and work, you will very much enjoy this book!

This book is life-changing. It is a small book packed with concentrated wisdom. Anyone who is looking to understand who they are and how they fit in this world, will benefit greatly from spending the time to give this one a read.

I read the first 80 pages of this book carefully, but just looked at the subjects afterwards. I don't think the book helped me because I matured as I quit focusing on myself. This book suggessts the opposite.

Palmer writes very well about this journey, but I didn't learn what most of us need- to be lees self-preoccupied.

Sorry, I would not recommend the book, though I know many would be impressed by it.

Palmer does a brilliant job of captivating his audience with his thoughts and life story. There are many wonderful quotes in this book that resonated deeply with me. It would make a great gift for a recent college graduate or any other person who wants to know more about themselves. This book makes you think about the person you have become and the person that you can become using your own tools.

This is an excellent book for reading and reflecting on life. The words will grip your inner soul and move you to a higher state of thinking and consciousness. Along the way, the author uses poetry to awaken the spirit. This book is real and has practical applications regarding life for almost everyone. I heard the author speak at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, regarding education and he is an excellent speaker. This is an educator who removes the secret veil, exposes what life is about, and the level of aspiration we should strive for. I highly recommend this book. Other excellent books to read are: "Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul," "The language of Poetry Forms" by Tree Good, and "Everyday Miracles" by Okubo.

This is an excellent book for reading and reflecting on life. The words will grip your inner soul and move you to a higher state of thinking and consciousness. Along the way, the author uses poetry to awaken the spirit. This book is real and has practical applications regarding life for almost everyone. I heard the author speak at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, regarding education and he is an excellent speaker. This is an educator who removes the secret veil, exposes what life is about, and the level of aspiration we should strive for. I highly recommend this book. Another excellent book to read is Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul.

Palmer's book would be ideal for a rainy day read or for taking on a private retreat. He shares much learning from his life experiences. It is not a book about doing. Rather, it is a way to be integrated in one's living. One can learn to listen to their inner voice by what goes well and by recognizing one's limitations. Much food for thought.

Palmer's book would be ideal for a rainy day read or for taking on a private retreat. He shares much learning from his life experiences. It is not a book about doing. Rather, it is a way to be integrated in one's living. One can learn to listen to their inner voice by what goes well and by recognizing one's limitations. Much food for thought.

Parker Palmer does a wonderful job in a concise why of providing us a guide to how we can learn to value our own experiences and truly listen to our inner voice. Listen in such a way as to be guided by what we are sensing and felling to help us speak through our life work and work life in ways that are self fulfilling and enriching. A very thought provoking and touching look at his own inner journey.

Parker Palmer does a wonderful job in a concise why of providing us a guide to how we can learn to value our own experiences and truly listen to our inner voice. Listen in such a way as to be guided by what we are sensing and felling to help us speak through our life work and work life in ways that are self fulfilling and enriching. A very thought provoking and touching look at his own inner journey.

A great look at who we are and should be

A great look at who we are and should be

Here is a book that I wish I had read twenty years ago on that perennial Christian conundrum faced by so many: what is God's will for me in my vocational life? I hasten to add that I am not sure that at that stage of my life I could or would have understood its wisdom. For the most part Christians try to answer this question about God's vocational guidance by going "outside" of ourselves to external matters like my skills, the advice of others, perhaps some tests, and so on. But from his Quaker tradition Palmer urges us to go "inside" ourselves to matters of the heart. When we pursue the former path a "false" self often follows the expectations that others have of us and so distorts the "true" self. Vocation, in short, is not "a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear" (p. 4) or "a gift to be received" (p. 10). We discover this call or gift, writes Palmer, by listening to our life, by discovering the true self God made each of us to be, rather than by soliciting the acceptance and approval of others about what we "ought" to do. Palmer is a gifted story teller and writer, and shares liberally from his own vocational pilgrimage, warts and all. Entire chapters on clinical depression and "when way closes" (a Quaker aphorism) were helpful. A final chapter uses the seasons as a metaphor for the vocational life, reminding us as we move inevitably through fall, winter, spring and summer that, contrary to all culture tells us, we do not only "manufacture" our life, but would do well to "grow" it.

I was led to the book because it was one person's account of their depression. However, I found it to be much more. A component of Palmer's depression was the misconnection between the life he was living and the life that wanted to live within him and come out. That is often a found in men and their work. So our men's group at church is reading it together, reflecting on their own points of connection with Palmer's story. As we just started this past Saturday, we'll see whether it bears fruit.

I was led to the book because it was one person's account of their depression. However, I found it to be much more. A component of Palmer's depression was the misconnection between the life he was living and the life that wanted to live within him and come out. That is often a found in men and their work. So our men's group at church is reading it together, reflecting on their own points of connection with Palmer's story. As we just started this past Saturday, we'll see whether it bears fruit.

This book shows that it is never too late to do a little soul searching to discover your life's purpose. The author recounts his own personal struggle for self discovery and fulfillment. This book is a good read with some food for thought.

Although "Let Your Life Speak" would be considered a small book, it's definitely big on insights, ideas, and thoughts to ponder.

In this book, the author reveals his journey that ultimately led to an understanding of his vocation. He opens up and reveals the "dark side" as well as the "light" of his experiences - allowing you to travel with him, gaining from the insights he learned along the way.

Some of the major topics/ideas include: Taking the time to listen to what your life & soul is telling you; the impact of fear on our decisions and our lives; depression - how this "ultimate disconnection" can lead to a heightened understanding of yourself in this world; the reality of change; looking for the lesson within every experience; the importance and use of metaphor; and the beauty of "true" community - where each person gives what they have and gets what they need.

Mr. Palmer also discusses a Quaker practice called the "clearing comittee" that really touched me. A person who has a decision to make comes to this comittee, and the comittee members are ONLY allowed to ask open-ended questions related to this issue for the duration of the meeting. There is to be no judging, solutions, or closed-ended questions. This is done to help the person come to their own inner truth - quite similar to what a "Life Coach" provides for their clients (I am training to become a Life Coach, and found several similarities between what we are trained to do, and what the "Clearing Comittee" provides within the Quaker community).

Overall, I found this to be a very well-written, insightful book. As such, I would highly recommend it to those who are searching for the "right" vocation - one that will bring you fulfillment and joy, as well as those who work with people in the areas of fear, spirituality, and/or career change - it has much to offer.

I am a person who is looking for my vocation. I am confused and lost in my life. With the help of the book, I know more about the inner self. The path that the author experienced helps persons like us to face our inner self in different demension. There is one thing that alarmed me much: the author told us that depression is not our enemy but actually is our friend who leads us to God. The book explains very good about this point and let me have a new prospective on depression.
Thanks Dr. Palmer.

I first read this book at a time when I was deeply unhappy in my work life. I was hoping to find some answers or at least direction. Like Palmer, I was confused about my life's purpose and disturbed by the perceived meaninglessness of my days. I wasn't looking for (and didn't need) some pop-culture fix; I was looking for something deeper and more meaningful to help me explore my life.

What *Let Your Life Speak* gave me was a clear and honest story of one man's search for meaning in the midst of plenty. I related to Palmer's frustrations, neediness, searching, displacement, and need to separate life's myths from realities.

Like Palmer, I found my life reinvigorated once the underbrush was cleared and the surfaces wiped clean.

This book is not a "how-to" but a "think-deeply". Palmer writes clearly and candidly in a voice that is gentle and trustworthy. I've gone back to this book to find comfort and understanding and read it frequently for inspiration.

This is a beautifully written contemplation on life and meaning.

I first read this book at a time when I was deeply unhappy in my work life. I was hoping to find some answers or at least direction. Like Palmer, I was confused about my life's purpose and disturbed by the meaninglessness of my days. I wasn't looking for and didn't need some pop-culture fix; I was looking for something deeper, more meaningful to help me explore my life.

What *Let Your Life Speak* gave me was a clear and honest story of one man's search for meaning in the midst of plenty. I releated to Palmer's frustrations, searching, neediness, displacement, and need to separate life's myths from realities. Like Palmer, I found my life reinvigorated once the underbrush was cleared and the surfaces wiped clean.

This book is not a "how-to" but a "think-deeply". Palmer writes clearly and candidly, making for a wonderful and trustworthy companion. I've gone back to this book often to find comfort and understanding; I read it frequently for inspiration.

This is a beautifully written contemplation on life and meaning.

Parker Palmer's work touched me on a deep level. He has helped me look at my life and vocation in a new way. The interesting thing for me personally is that I have just written a parenting guide called "Mojo Mom" that looks at the transformation of motherhood as a keystone step on life's journey. Motherhood gives a woman a chance to reflect on her career and vocation, and to align her life's work with her true self. Given that my focus is on motherhood, I was struck by how Parker Palmer's writing and core beliefs resonated with my own. He is a man of my father's generation, yet he connected with what I have come to think of as "mojo" or one's core source of power, commitment, and calling. I highly recommend "Let Your Life Speak" to all thoughtful seekers who are looking for a gentle guide and companion on the quest for our life's purpose--whether that is career, calling, or parenthood as vocation. People ask me for resources for fathers, and "Listen to Your Life Speak" would be an interesting read for men. One final note on this book: it is religious in the sense of being spiritiual in a very inclusive way. It is probably the first spiritual book that I have been eager to recommend without hesitation to anyone who is open to this approach, whether or not they identify with an organzied religion. I do not come from a Friends (Quaker) background, but I appreciate their wisdom and I am thankful for the chance to learn from Parker Palmer's experiences.

I didn't know I WASN'T listening to my inner sense of meaning and purpose until I read LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK and was stunned into recognition. After engaging Parker Palmer through his writing here--he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as from puzzling out an authentic vocation--I felt like WAY OPENED for me. This book encourages deep reflection and compassionate recollection of our truest calling. Palmer invites us to be ourselves in work and community in a way that enables bringing all of who we are--both shadow and light--to what we do.

Like all Palmer's work, this one speaks to people from many walks of life, including public schools, college and universities, religious institutions, corporations, foundations and grass-roots organizations. As a clergy person and professor of religion, I found this work to be profoundly inspiring.

Our women's circle is studying this book together. We are middle-aged and over but are looking at a time of growth in this next part of our life-journey. The book is helping us to let our lives speak to each other and to ourselves.

I got this book some time ago, when one of the professors at BC recommended it to me as a way to think about what I wanted to do with my life and of course, I never read it. However, I'm almost glad that I didn't read it until now, because at this point in my life I think I needed it more than I did when I was choosing a path. Palmer is basically telling his own story of vocation, including all the dark spots that he hit along the way. However, he emphasizes the need to see the good and the possibilities for growth in those dark spots. For example, in the final chapter he compares life to the changing seasons in an extended metaphor. For winter, he says, "Despite all appearances, of course, nature is not dead in winter--it has gone underground to renew itself and prepare for spring. Winter is a time when we are admonished, and even inclined, to do the same for ourselves" (101). His main point is that in order to do this (renew ourselves for growth in our vocation), each person should learn to listen to their inner self because that is the only way that we will truly become the full person that God created us to be. He does frequently refer to religious ideas like this but, the nice thing about his writing is even though he is religious, this idea does not overwhelm the book and it can really be for anyone (though I'm sure that an atheist might not get as much out of this as a religious person would).

This book helped me to look at my life and see if I could discover what my "inner self" has been trying to tell me, even in times of my darkness and "winter", about my vocation.

I generally make notations and highlight important thoughts when reading a book. Parker Palmer's "Let Your Life Speak" has more notations and highlights in its 109 pages than do most books 2-3 times its length. While the subject - how am I living my life? - is not new, Parker makes the book come alive by presenting old concepts in a new, unfamiliar way.

The book is derived from essays Parker has published during the past decade. He does not present them as published, but rather he has rewritten them and developed the parts into a coherent whole.

Chapter 1 challenges the reader to listen to life.
Chapter 2 probes on how we become ourselves.
Chapter 3 focuses on things of the past (the way closes) and things of the future (the way opens).
Chapter 4 puts our personal infernos (all the way down) and the path to God into perspective.
Chapter 5 brings the reader to the all-important "Leading from Within."
Chapter 6 uses the metaphor of seasons to relate to the realities of life.

Some of the thoughts I have highlighted include:

The self wants nothing more, or less, than for us to be who we were created to be - the "True self," (our)true friend...(and) one ignores such friendship at one's peril.

Burnout is a state of emptiness - trying to give what I do not possess.

We are led to truth by our weaknesses as well as our strengths.

The distortion of the true self comes from living from the outside in, rather than from the inside out.

There are many, many more gems like these to meditate on, to move us, and to help us on the journey to our "True" selves. If you are willing to take the journey within and to discover your "True" self, then this is THE book written especially for you.

my god, what an obnoxious, over-wrought, self-important heap of nonsense. this man thinks far too highly of his life story, which is low on anything truely trying and high on sentimentality. i quote:

"i love the fact that the word humus, the dacayed vegatable matter that feeds the roots of plants, comes from the same root that gives rise to the word humility. it is a blessed etymology. it helps me understand that the humiliating events of life, the events that leave 'mud on my face' or that 'makes my name mud' may create the fertile soil in which something new can grow."

well, good for you, pal. the oft-used metaphores and life stories that are not incoherent are utterly laughable in a droll, sugary way that does not lend itself to serious reading. some people may be capable of enjoying such writing and finding it truly inspiring. i am not one of those folks, and do not reccomend this book. to anyone.

I found this book to be an interesting read into one man's journey toward self-discovery. He has some good insights into how one might take a different view of the world and find one's true vocation.

From my perspective, it was a bit too self-absorbed and self-engrandizing. I would recommend this book to anyone that is depressed about his or her life and needs to find a potential source of comfort. If you have a fairly good sense of self, this book may not be of great benefit.

This book is an inspiration for those feeling "the pull"--the struggle between "what society tells me I should be doing" and "what I feel I need/was born to do". Both my husband and I could not put it down. Palmer validated our feelings of "I don't think the rat race is what life is really about..." whereby giving us the confidence to pursue major life and career changes. Read a paragraph, stop and think...and then read on....

This book should be required reading for all high school seniors. Barring that, it should be required reading for every college freshman. I wish I had read it 30 years ago. Parker J.Palmer has brilliantly made sense of the chaos churning around in my head about my career path. His insight and wisdom are uncanny.

One thing that our world does not encourage very well is stopping and listening -- stopping and listening to each other, stopping and listening to life around us, or stopping and listening even to ourselves. This is a skill that, given our cultural conditioning, must be cultivated. That is one of the things that this book by Parker Palmer, `Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation', strives to do -- to help the reader, the seeker, to be more attentive to life.

Palmer is a well-known author in the area of vocational care and consideration. I first encountered Palmer's writing in another book, The Courage to Teach, as various of us explored the meanings of our vocations as educators in the fields of theology and ministry.

Palmer states at the outset in his Gratitudes (a wonderful substitution from the typical words Preface or Introduction) that these chapters have in various guises appeared before. However, they have been re-written to fit together as a complete and unified whole for the purpose of exploring vocation.

Chapter 1: Listening to Life, starts as an exploration through poetry and Palmer's own experience in vocation. What is one called to do? What is the source of vocation? Palmer states: `Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about -- quite apart from what I would like it to be about -- or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions.'

The very word vocation implies both voice and calling. Crucial to this understanding is that one must be present and attentive to hear that voice, that call.

Chapter 2: Now I Become Myself, continues, through the words of May Sarton, Palmer's self-exploration and self-discovery of the vocation not as an achievement but rather as a gift. One must be ready to receive the gift.

Many people, and Palmer is no exception, go through a period of darkness, despair, and depression before reaching a clear understanding of the vocation to which they are called. It requires courage. It requires diligence. It requires (and again Palmer uses the words of Sarton) the understanding that this will take 'time, many years and places'. It requires patience.

Chapter 3: When Way Closes explores one of the frequent problems along the vocational trail -- what happens when something stops or closes? Is it as simple as thinking a window opens when a door closes?

Sometimes it is not so simply identifiable. Our vocation sometimes propels into action or inaction because what we are doing rather than what we should be doing. Palmer says we must learn our limits, and sometimes we subconsciously force ourselves into action by closing off the past.
Palmer used the example of having lost a job. Palmer was able to discern, through reflection, that he was not fired from that job because he was bad at the job, but rather because it had little to do with his true vocation, and his heart would never be in it. His vocation required that he lose that job.

In stopping ourselves from dwelling on the past, beating on the closed door, but rather looking at where we are and where we can go from there, that our vocation opens for us.

Chapter 4: All the Way Down, deals with that depression we often face on the way. While it may sound cliche to talk about hitting bottom before being able to progress, there is a truth behind the cliche.

Depression ultimately is an intimately personal experience. Palmer explores the mystery of depression. He frankly admits that, while he can understand why some people ultimately commit suicide in their depression, he cannot full explain why others, including himself, do not, and recover (at least to a degree).

Chapter 5: Leading from Within talks of Palmer's return from depression into a world of action. Quoting from Vaclav Havel, the playwright-president of the Czech Republic, he says, `The power for authentic leadership, Havel tells us, is found not in external arrangements but in the human heart. Authentic leaders in every setting -- from families to nation-states -- aim at liberating the heart, their own and others', so that its powers can liberate the world. `

By unlocking those places in our hearts -- places that include faith, trust, and hope -- we can overcome fear and cynicism, and move to a firm grounding where we can be leader of our own destiny by following our true vocation.

Chapter 6: There is a Season winds through a treatment of the seasons of nature in relation to the seasons of our lives. We in the modern world have forgotten the basic cyclical nature of our ground of being. Decline and death are natural, yet we always flee from these and treat them as tragedies beyond understanding. We see growth as a natural good, but do not trust nature (even our own self-nature) to provide the growth we need for all.

The various chapters are remarkable in their sense of spirit and flow. For a book of only barely more than 100 pages (and small pages, at that), this book opens up a wonder of insight and feeling that helps to discern not one's own vocation, but rather how to think about discerning a vocation. This is, in many ways, a book of method, by showing a personal journey combined with other examples, principles and honest feelings.

This book can, quite simply, make a difference in the life of reader. There is no higher praise or recommendation I am able to give than that.

I was moved by Palmer's openess on avoiding and eventually confronting depression, fear of failure, and the what of what really matters. This small books holds many succinct insights and examples.There's a Buddhist quality too to his found appreciation for waiting, listening, experiencing the moment.
A compliment to this text is Tara Bennett Goleman's Emotional Alchemy.

This book is little more than a (mercifully) short autobiography of an arrogant and misguided know-it-all. Think of the most self-centered and obnoxious person you know, and then ask yourself if you'd want to read a book they'd written about their own life. To me the book was hard to read because I found the author's personality so annoying. Even when he admits to making mistakes, he strongly hints that it was because he was more intelligent or more ethical than everyone else around him.

Also, throughout the book, he kept blowing the trumpet and waving the banner of his Liberal politics. He apologized a few times for being born a white male, but then he used it as an excuse because, he says, our society teaches all white males that they can do anything they want to do in life. And he feels the pain of all who are not white males because, he says time and again, that our society is, apparently without exception, sexist, racist and homophobic. In one overwrought metaphor, he advises that we should all strive to be like Rosa Parks and sit down on the bus of life and name and claim what is ours. Huh?

Palmer has, for now, concluded that his vocation is to be a writer. Based on this book, I can't agree. Therefore, I cannot recommend a book on vocation written by someone who has apparently chosen the wrong vocation.

If you're looking for a book that is truly full of wisdom, get Thomas Merton's, No Man Is An Island. The entire book sings, and it contains an excellent chapter on vocation.

To discover the purpose and meaning in life is an aspiration that all people desire and seek. Many live a lifetime never finding their true purpose for why they were born and what their contribution towards community should be. Parker Palmer addresses this need head on. In his book Let Your Life Speak, Palmer explains that it is through listening and responding to the signs of life that we can find hope, comfort and peace. Parker uses his personal life, to tactfully illustrate the seasons of life that all experience. Parker causes the reader to explore their souls and lives to discover why we too are given our gift of life and what are we to do with it. Parker encourages this inner examination and encourages a response of reality and integrity. This little book is both practical and inspirational.

This Parker Palmer book touched me so deeply that I purchased it for each of my teachers (I am head of a private school). Palmer gently leads the reader to examine one's commitments and career path. While a spiritual book, it is not religious. I recommend it highly. It provides questions, not answers, but for these topics, at least for me, that is what is really needed.

This is a smart book for all faithfilled people looking to make a vocation change or take stock in their life. Far more well written and grounded than most "spiritual" books out there.

Appreciators of Parker Palmer should know that this is, in this reader's opinion, the best he has ever written. It is the best because Palmer shares himself enough to let us know that he is human and vulnerable, but his central focus is on discovering who God has in mind for us to be and become.

This is for those struggling to make early decisions about vocation but also for those who, midway or later in life, are needing assistance on the path to being as well as doing.Powerful in its economy of words.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Parker J. Palmer has a way of using words and stories to captivate the reader. His real life experiences are the most powerful and telling portion of the book.

The light within can shine out of someone so that others may see the path they are on. Palmer writes of his own journey in the finest tradition of Penn, Woolman and Fox. Parker writes of his own struggles, his wrong turns, his mistakes and his revelations. The path he took is not for everyone -- but that is the point. In the Biblical tradition, we can learn from his struggles, just as we learn from the struggles of the Jews in the Old Testament and the trials and tribulations of the early Christians in the New Testament. As we search for that of God within us, we can look to the experience of others who have gone before us.

After reading LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK, I got out of a competitive, contentious field and got into a position that makes me feel like a fish in water.

A great book for non-Quakers as well as Friends.

Parker Palmer creates a peacful arena for understanding our own lives by sharing what he has experienced and learned from his own. I found this book to be a "quick read" on the one hand and yet I keep going back and rereading parts of it ... and then rereading the whole section.

I came away from reading this book - the first time - with a peace about my life and how I have lived it. I better understand the lessons I have been taught and more faith about the path I am following. A whole lot for a little book to accomplish.

Thank you,Parker Palmer, for having the courage to risk sharing your story and speaking the truth that we know in our hearts, but our American culture so often distorts. Thank you for your gift of putting into words what so many of us believe, but haven't been able to articulate. Now I know what to get all the men in my life for Father's Day! It's short and simple -- a must read for all Americans who are searching for "the way in and through" in order to continue the journey!

This book is a true gem, one of the best I have read in my lifetime. Many authors try to be startling and insightful, to change their readers' lives; few truly have that power. Parker Palmer's small book rocked me to my core. He speaks simply and honestly. He tells his own story with startling truthfulness and quietly challenges you to look as honestly at your own life. He offers insights and haunting questions that turn you inside-out, strip away your self-deceptions, and leave you with a truer sense of who you are.

I wish I had written this book. Since I didn't, I'm thrilled that Parker J. Palmer did. It encompasses every instruction I have ever given a member of our Order on the pathway to meet, embrace, and resolve the mystery of True Will; and in his patient, considered authorship, he does it vastly better than I ever have.

This is a personal, human, moving, insightful, practical work on the discovery of True Will, and living life in conformity with it. While it enumerates principles, most of the book is autobiographical - the author notes that while everyone's journey is unique, instructive insights are commonly found in, rather than veiled by, the details of someone else's trip. Palmer is a Quaker, and a noted education writer. He is also an Adept as sure as any A.'.A.'. 5=6 (though he would likely never own the title), who understands, from experience, what we call the Holy Guardian Angel, even though he calls it something else.

A feeling for this book can, perhaps, be gotten from a series of brief quotations: "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." "True self, when violated, will always resist us, sometimes at great cost, holding our lives in check until we honor its truth." "...self-care is never a selfish act - it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others." "The attempt to live by the reality of our own nature, which means our limits as well as our potentials, is a profoundly moral regimen." "One dwells with God by being faithful to one's nature. One crosses God by trying to be something one is not. Reality - including one's own - is divine, to be not defied but honored."

He writes of finding "the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need." Where Liber Legis tells us that, "There is division hither homeward," Palmer speaks to the process of finding "the courage to live divided [against ourselves] no more."

One chapter explores how limitation and ordeal conspire to discover us to ourselves. He understands projections and how to approach them. He also understands that "the way to God is down" - down into the depths of ourselves - and is found only in embracing all aspects of what is found, without judgment. He ex-plores the mystery of depression and - though speaking of a level way, way below "the Dark Night of the Soul" - insightfully addresses its understanding and resolution by means indistinguishable from those that apply to the sojourning of that most profound abyss. His moral thrust is reflected in a quote from John Middleton Murry: "For a good man to realize that it is better to be whole than to be good is to enter on a strait and narrow path compared to which his previous rectitude was flowery license."

My worst criticism of this hardbound little book is that it could benefit from a better binding, but that is the only weakness in its manufacture. Its contents can transform a life. I give it the highest of recommendations.

This book enabled me to take a step forward in faith, and to pursue a major career change. Palmer's advice regarding vocation is that vocation is not what we do, but who we are. This prompted a close friend to ask me - "who are you?". The answer was as clear as day, and Palmer's book confirmed that from childhood we basically know how we are woven together and what our passions are. A must read for anyone contemplating mid-life change.

Mr. Palmer writes eloquently, poetically, and scholarly. He is truly an intellectual, and has definitely made insightful revelations...about *his* life. If you are looking for a systematic, step-by-step approach to finding your vocation, read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits. If you want a book on letting your vocation find you, written in intricate metaphor and poetry, this is the one! I am so grateful that we have so many wonderful writers for so many wonderful subjects. Different writers affect different people in different ways! You decide!

I am a very introspective person. I believe in the power of the inner person to shine light. I am presently searching for my true vocation. So, this book should be manna, right? It is good. I benefitted, and I can recommend it. But it is too flawed for me to give the highest marks.

The flaw is understandable: Palmer believes just a little too highly in the goodness of the human spirit/conscience. He gives it an ultimate authority. Palmer probably only has friends who are really good people, whose conscience is a worthy guiding light. But there are a lot of people in our society whose conscience is not good. For those people, direction must first come from submission to an external voice, call it principle or natural law or God or whatever you want. Only when their conscience has changed can it serve as the 'Voice of Vocation'.

If this flaw is recognized, Palmer's book is quite valuable. It provides insight in taking that introspective journey in search of vocation. For more on the importance of self-evident principles, read Covey's _Seven Habits of Highly Effective People_.

Palmer's _To Know As We Are Known_ is one of the 5 most influential books in my life. I recently completed a 5th reading of it. I highly recommend it to anyone. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend _Let Your Life Speak_ as highly.

. . . And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

I used to frown upon Polonius's words in Hamlet. They seemed muddled in the same kind of serve-yourself mentality that pervades much of pop psychology and much of our business culture. Polonius, after all, was usually a man big on words and short on wisdom.

With time, I came to understand those words more deeply. He's really saying, "Don't let others decide who you're going to be or how you're going to act or react." When you act from a clear sense of who you are--who God has created you to be--then your actions have integrity with your being. And you will be false--in the sense of being phony--to no one.

Using colorful metaphors, Parker Palmer takes this basic theme and fleshes it out with his own life. He focuses this wisdom on the choice of vocation in life, suggesting we put aside what we feel we "ought" to be and choose a vocation that expresses who we truly are.

Sometimes he's a little too fuzzy for me on the matter of truth, following the popular line of thinking in our American culture that we each have our own truth. If you're the kind of person who ascribes to that way of thinking, then you'll probably love every aspect of Palmer's book. For myself, I can only go so far with that. If by "your own truth" he means simply "the truth about yourself," then I whole-heartedly agree: we do each have unique truths about ourselves; and, if we know those truths, we can avoid some of the pitfalls in life. If he means, as so many do, that there's no objective or absolute truth, only what "works for you" and what "works for me," I find that kind of thinking popular but shallow, no matter how nicely you dress it up with words.

Still, in terms of vocation, I think he's right. The code I'm trying to accept for myself when it comes to vocation is "pursue your passion." That, in essence, is what Palmer describes. I could be misunderstood on that, just as I may be misunderstanding what Palmer's saying about truth. Some might think I mean "Do whatever feels good. Follow your lusts." What I really mean is that God's calling rarely comes from words one hears. God has created his calling within the very fiber of your being. If you pursue a career or path in life that follows those things you most deeply care about and desire to be and do, then I think you are being the person God has created. That, according to Palmer, is our true calling--to be the person God has created us to be and not the person everyone else thinks we should be--not even the one we think we "should" be--but the person we deeply want to be. If we believe our souls are uniquely created in the image of God, then we can acknowledge that God's pattern for our lives lies within ourselves. (Or--if you're an atheist--you can, at least, think of it as being true to the core of your being.)

That doesn't mean we can dispense with general guidelines for living, such as a moral framework for social interaction, but the particulars for deciding how we can meaningfully, joyfully, and helpfully engage with our world are imprinted within. Palmer points out that being president is not for him, but it may be just right for someone else. In that sense we have our own particular truth, and we must be guided from self-understanding if we're going to serve others in the most joyful way we can.