Rating: 
Summary: some things you just can't avoid
Review: Life is full of twists and turns that lead you all over the map. However, along that journey there are those things inside of you that are screaming to be released, and when they finally are they bring complete fulfillment to your mind, body and soul. Those things are gifts that God gave you when he planned out your life. Palmer invites readers to find those God given gifts and act on them. He invites readers through Let Your Life Speak to find who you are, and not who the world, teachers, culture, parents, media, and friends have forced you to become. I highly recommend this book for those who know they aren't doing what their soul tells them to do. Get ready for a ride though because after reading this short, but moving book, you will have to make some changes in your life. Some big, some small, but things will not remain the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Make Your Decision on this Book Very Carefully!
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: fluffy. very, very fluffy.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Stopping and listening...
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Quietly Paradoxical
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Quietly Paradoxical
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Timely, Courageous, and Inspiring
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, simple and a beacon to light the way
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Learning about Yourself
Review: This book deepened my exploration of self. As a college student who is going about trying figure out my place in this world, Palmer's book helped immensely. It made me feel good about what I have accomplished so far on my journey and help me see that where I see myself going is some where positive, even if I don't know where that is. A must read for everyone!
Rating: 
Summary: Enabled me to step forward in faith
Review: 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.
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