by Parker J. Palmer
Date: Wednesday, September 25 at 9:00 AM PDT
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Cost: Suggested donation $10 US.
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How “We the People” can reclaim our democracy―updated with a discussion guide, author videos, and a new chapter-length Introduction.
In this updated edition of his prophetic book, renowned author and activist Parker J. Palmer celebrates the power of “We the People” to resist the politics of divide and conquer. With the U.S. now on a global list of “backsliding democracies,” Palmer writes about what we can do to restore civil discourse, reach for understanding across lines of difference, focus on our shared values, and hold elected officials accountable. He explores ways we can reweave the communal fabric on which democracy depends in everyday settings such as families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations, workplaces, and various public spaces―including five “habits of the heart” we can cultivate as we work to fulfill America's promise of human equality.
In the same honest, vulnerable, compelling and inspiring prose that has won Palmer millions of readers, Healing the Heart of Democracy awakens our instinct to seek the common good and gives us the tools to pursue it. With a text enhanced by a Discussion Guide and forty online author videos on key issues, you'll be able to…
- Reflect on the personal implications of the claim that “the human heart is the first home of democracy”
- Consider everyday actions you can take to restore the infrastructure that supports our democracy
- Transcend the “us vs. them” mentality and find ways to expand and enrich your life by appreciating the value of “otherness”
- Reignite your sense of personal voice and agency to resist authoritarian appeals and restore a politics of freedom and responsibility
Healing the Heart of Democracy is for anyone who values the gift of citizenship and wants to make a difference for themselves, their families and communities, and our collective wellbeing. As the late Congressman John Lewis said, “We have been trying to bridge the great divides in this great country for a long time. In this book, Parker J. Palmer urges us to ‘keep on walking, keep on talking’―just as we did in the civil rights movement―until we cross those bridges together.”
Purchase Healing the Heart of Democracy from bookshop.org
About the Author
Parker J. Palmer is a writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal, which offers long-term retreat programs for people in the serving professions, including teachers, physicians, non-profit leaders, and clergy.
He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as fourteen honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press.
Palmer is the author of ten books—including several award-winning titles—that have sold 2.5 million copies and been translated into ten languages: Healing the Heart of Democracy, The Heart of Higher Education (with Arthur Zajonc), The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, The Active Life, To Know As We Are Known, The Company of Strangers, The Promise of Paradox, and On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old.
In 1998, the Leadership Project, a national survey of 10,000 educators, named Dr. Palmer one of the thirty “most influential senior leaders” in higher education and one of the ten key “agenda-setters” of the past decade.
Since 2002, 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.
In 2005, Living the Questions: Essays Inspired by the Work and Life of Parker J. Palmer, was published.
In 2010, Palmer was given the William Rainey Harper Award whose previous recipients include Margaret Mead, Elie Wiesel, Marshall McLuhan, and Paolo Freire.
In 2011, the Utne Reader named him one of 25 Visionaries on its annual list of People Who are Changing the World.
In 2017, the Shalem Institute in Washington, D.C., gave Palmer its annual Contemplative Voices Award, “created to honor those individuals who have made significant contributions to contemplative understanding, living and leadership and whose witness helps others live from the divine wellspring of compassion, strength, and authentic vision.”
In 2021, the Freedom of Spirit Fund, a UK-based foundation, gave him their Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of work that promotes and protects spiritual freedom.
A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), Dr. Palmer and his wife, Sharon Palmer, live in Madison, Wisconsin.
About the Facilitator
Ariel Burger is an author, teacher, and artist whose work integrates spirituality, storytelling, and strategies for social change. His meeting, at age 15, with Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel set him on a path of spiritual searching, immersive study, and activism. Ariel is the author of Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, and is the Founder and Senior Scholar of The Witness Institute, whose mission is to empower emerging leaders, inspired by the life and legacy of Professor Wiesel. Ariel’s work, which catalyzes new experimental approaches to moral education and leadership, has been applied by learners, educators, and institutions around the world.
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