Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Parker Palmer’s graceful little book LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK is the best work I’ve ever read on discernment and vocation.In six chapters and just under 120 elegantly written pages, Palmer presses home the point that vocation emerges from within us and that we must listen carefully to our own lives if we are to discover it. Taking on someone else’s concept of calling or subjecting ourselves to an external and alien set of values and objectives will do violence to ourselves and to our usefulness—Palmer would probably avoid the word—to our community and our world. Throughout, the author’s rooting in Quaker patterns and rhythms is evident, but this book is anything but sectarian and will be welcomed—indeed, has been welcomed, for it was published in the year 2000—by readers of many faiths and perhaps of none.Chapter I, ‘Listening to Life’, argues that one’s life is worthy of study and profoundly worth listening to. ‘The soul is like a wild animal—tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient, and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.’In his second chapter (‘Now I Become Myself’), Palmer initiates in earnest the autobiographical transparency that he will sustain through the book, lending to his lines an authenticity that is arguably their most compelling feature. After having tried and failed over several episodes to forge a sense of vocational and personal identity, Parker writes that ‘(t)today I understand vocation quite differently—not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice “out there” calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice “in here” calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.’The author urge us not to ‘wear other people’s faces’ and to realize that ‘(t)he deepest vocational question is not “What ought I to do with my life?” It is the more elemental and demanding “Who am I? What is my nature?”.’Yet Palmer does not imagine that this discovery of one’s true self occurs often without pain. ‘Most of us’, he avers, ‘arrive at a sense of self and vocation only after a long journey through alien lands … before we come to that center, full of light, we must travel in the dark. Darkness is not the whole of the story—every pilgrimage has passages of loveliness and joy—but it is the part of the story most often left untold.’ This ultimate qualifier is another item that, to this reader’s ears, lends the ring of truth to Palmer’s adventure. I say this because my own journeying after true vocation has, like Palmer’s, led me through both sunlight and darkness, yet I cannot say that any of the miles traveled has been entirely dark, entirely bleak, and certainly not entirely regrettable. Unlike many more mechanical treatments of the topic, Palmer’s notion of vocational discovery leads him to value the path rather than merely the destination.One finds, in this second and longest of Palmer’s chapters, refreshingly important roles to be played by fear, failure, and ordinariness. In my view, this makes LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK accessible to those of us who resonate with Palmer’s journey but could never write so elegantly of our own.Chapter III is titled ‘When Way Closes’. The missing article is not a typo, but rather a nod to the Quaker sense of ‘Way’. In the discourse of the Friends, we learn, ‘way opens’ and ‘way closes’. Palmer traces a givenness to vocation, a created anchoring in our persons that does not make all things possible. Instead, the way each of us is both opens doors and closes doors. Sometimes the closing brings embarrassment and shame.‘It would be nice if our limits did not reveal themselves in such embarrassing ways as getting fired from a job. But if you are like me and don’t readily admit your limits, embarrassment may be the only way to get your attention. I go on full alert only when I am blocked or get derailed or flat-out fail. Then, finally, I may be forced to face my nature and find out whether I can make something of both my gifts and my limitations.’Palmer develops the role played by our limitations by counterposing the ‘oughts’ that we often heed in our vocational adventure to the ‘ecology of life’ in which we find a proper place to stand and to be. In this third chapter, this Christian reader finds the theological undergirding to Palmer’s prose that the author often touches upon only lightly. It is, for Palmer, the ‘God of reality’ who ‘dwells quietly in the root system of the very nature of things’. He speaks easily of ‘one’s created nature’. When one finally comes to rest within this ecology burnout is not the inevitable outcome of passionate labor. Rather, ‘(w)hen the gift I give to the other is integral to my own nature, when it comes from a place of organic reality within me, it will renew itself—and me—even as I give it away.’‘All the Way Down’ (Chapter IV) suggests that an excruciating read lies just ahead and the title does not deceive, for in this fourth chapter Palmer sketches out for us his two debilitating experiences of depression. Neither reducing nor simplifying the causes of depression—in fact he calls the thing a ‘mystery’—Palmer managed in his own suffering to find his way to viewing depression as his friend. It took him all the way down to where it was safe to stand. Following upon his previous description of ‘the God of reality’, Parker borrows Tillich’s description of God as the ground of being: ’I had always imagined God to be in the same general direction was everything else I valued: up … I had to be forced underground before I could understand that the way to God is not up but down.’Thankfully, Palmer does not write prescriptively about the ways (plural) into depression nor the ways (again, note the plural) out. His own recovery remains something of a mystery, captured in the magnificent poem with which he graces the conclusion of Chapter IV. Yet for him, his submission to the vocational ‘oughts’ by which he permitted himself for years to be hounded prepared the way down in the darkness. There he found not only God, but himself as well.Chapter V (‘Leading from Within’) now turns outward to the damage and the health that a leader can bring to the wider community and, indeed, to the world. We project both shadows and light onto the world. ‘A good leader is intensely aware of the interplay of inner shadow and light, lest the act of leadership do more harm than good.’In this chapter, any hint that vocation is essentially a narcissistic pursuit evaporates. For Palmer, vocation begins within but eventually projects itself onto one’s world. He writes insightfully of the ways leaders fashion a community from misguided starting points and, happily, also via the freedom that comes from authentic vocation. Let me single out at some length a few of Parker’s words on fear as motivator:‘As one who is no stranger to fear, I have had to read those words with care so as not to twist them into a discouraging counsel of perfection. “Be not afraid” does not mean we cannot have fear. Everyone has fear, and people who embrace the call to leadership often find fear abounding. Instead, the words say we do not need to be the fear we have. We do not have to lead from a place of fear, thereby engendering a world in which fear is multiplied.We have places of fear inside of us, but we have other places as well—places with names like trust and hope and faith. We can choose to lead from one of those places, to stand on ground that is not riddled with the fault lines of fear, to move toward others from a place of promise instead of anxiety. As we stand in one of those places, fear may remain close at hand and our spirits may still tremble. But now we stand on ground that will support us, ground from which we may lead others towards a more trustworthy, more hopeful, more faithful way of being in the world.’This reviewer—like Palmer, no stranger to fear—thrills to such a sound and realistic assessment of the kind of ‘fearlessness’ that embraces reality and yet dares to lead, unparalyzed.In his concluding chapter (VI, ‘There is a Season’), Palmer departs from his now familiar approach to speak of how ‘the quest for selfhood and vocation’ follow the recurring patterns and rhythms of the four seasons. This chapter alone would justify keeping Let Your Life Speak within arm’s reach, to be read and re-read at the calendar’s and the seasons’ turnings.One can hardly read Palmer’s exceedingly transparent work on vocation and then write for others about it without a bit of transparency of his own. After twelve years of leadership in a relatively prominent position—at least for the proportions of this review’s little world—I recently hit the wall at the end of a particularly grueling vocational mile. This is not without its emotional violence, its sense of failure and disillusionment, its return to the root considerations of vocational identity, and its forceful requirement to look again and to look within for wisdom about next steps. For me, each page of Palmer’s LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK brought both balm and direction. Many brought exhilaration as well.I offer this review in hopes that Palmer will be a bit more widely read for those, like me, who find a wise mentor the doctor’s very order.

Review on "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker PalmerParker 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.

Entering my sixth decade and embarking on a new very human-centered career, I found this book so wonderful. The writing style is light and lucid, and the thoughts are provocative. Palmer’s text invites reflection, finding your true self—that divine spark that was born in you—and it invites you to find the joys in the seasons of your life. However, Palmer does not eschew the dark times, the wounds or the pain. He shows us how to find joy, not by bypassing these painful periods, but by entering fully into them. The way is not around, but through. This book is not about making a life, but growing a life. It is helpful to me as a human being and in my burgeoning career as a chaplain.

Top takeaways from reading the book:- Location 600: When you ask yourself the question "What do you want?", what answer do you get?- Location 700: 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.- Location 700: If our institutions are rigid, it is because our hearts fear change. If they set us in mindless competition with one another, it is because we value victory over all else.

One of the most profound and original work, I'm glad, I've read. I'll carry this tiny book with my all along to sail through turbulence of selfhood, vocation, shadows, fears and seasons of life. My deepest gratitude to Mr. Palmer for gifting this book to the world. Each chapter is session of going deeper and deeper into our roots, accepting them as they are, healing them and finding courage to come out new, with freshness of life and grace of universe.

Read this as part of a unit requirement at Bible College. For years I’d heard of Palmer’s influence on leaders who have positively influenced me. Now, after seeing firsthand the wisdom shared in this shirt book, I see why.Highly recommend for those discerning their journey in life- where they’ve been and where they’re going.

As someone working on my own personal growth and helping others along in their journey as well, I am looking for a variety of perspectives, and also different approaches to inner work. This book rates among one of the best I have read, as a gentle introduction to the idea of acknowledging out wholeness as the path to personal growth.

The entire book rests on the premise that there is a God and that everyone is equally worth because we are all God's children.If you don't have this premise, what then?