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"Building on his own extensive experience as a writer and activist on various aspects of inner and institutional life, Parker J. Palmer explores the soulful dynamics of American politics. What he did for educators in The Courage to Teach he does for citizens here, exploring the dynamics of our inner lives for clues to reclaiming our national unity. In Healing the Heart of Democracy, he points the way to a politics worthy of the human spirit, rooted in the commonwealth of compassion and creativity still found among "We the People." Democracy is a non-stop experiment in the strengths and weaknesses of our political institutions, local communities, and the human heart--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 community, conflict into the energy of creativity, and tension into a force that opens us to the common good. Healing the Heart of Democracy names the vital "habits of the heart" we need to do the job and shows how they can be formed. Palmer proposes practical and hopeful, on-the-ground ways to learn how to hold the tensions of our differences in a manner that can restore a government "of the people, by the people, for the people.""--Provided by publisher.
List of contents
Introduction to the Paperback Edition xvii
Prelude The Politics of the Brokenhearted 1
Chapter i Democracy's Ecosystem 11
Chapter ii Confessions of an Accidental Citizen 29
Chapter iii The Heart of Politics 49
Chapter iv The Loom of Democracy 69
Chapter v Life in the Company of Strangers 89
Chapter vi Classrooms and Congregations 119
Chapter vii Safe Space for Deep Democracy 151
Chapter viii The Unwritten History of the Heart 175
Gratitudes 195
Notes 199
The author 219
Index 221
Healing the Heart of Democracy Discussion Guide 237
About the author
PARKER J. PALMER, whose books have sold over a million copies, holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and eleven honorary doctorates. In 2011, the Utne Reader named him one of twenty-five "People Who Are Changing Your World." He is Founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal.
Summary
If you care about the future of democracy, here is a path to renewal, no matter what your politics may be. Without shouting, blaming or defaming, Parker Palmer looks with realism and hope at how to deal with our political tensions for the sake of the common good.
Report
"He bravely takes on the current political climate, and this book provides therapy for the American body politic. His insights are heart-deep: America gains by living with tension and differences; we can help reclaim public life by actions as simple as walking down the street instead of driving. Hope's hardly cheap, but history is made up of what Palmer calls 'a million invisible acts of courage and the incremental gains that came with them.' This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit from discussing it." --(A "Starred Review" from Publishers Weekly, 8 August 2011)
"Healing the Heart of Democracy is a hopeful book that lifts up and hallows the heart as a source of inner sight. Inspired by the efforts to understand and undergird democracy by Abraham Lincoln, Alexis de Tocqueville, Rosa Parks, and others; the author sends us on our way rejoicing with the small portion of hope that he has planted in our minds and souls." --(Spirituality & Practice)
"There is a deep and disturbing cloud hanging over the United States. It is a malaise that is leading to cynicism and self-centeredness. The antidote is to be found in the healing of the heart of our democracy, so that we might emerge from this private focus to a public one, which recognizes our interdependence. I know of no better guide to discerning the problem and the solutions, than this book by Parker Palmer. It is a prophetic book, one that needs to be taken with all due seriousness, if we are to emerge from our malaise stronger and healthier than before." --(Englewood Review of Books , 2011)
