THE ACTIVE LIFE

At the time of this book's publication, Parker Palmer was a speaker, writer and worship leader.

I know that a few of our Nazarene College facilities have used him for retreats and seminars. He has explored "A Spirituality of Education' in various settings. 

I read this book years ago while in my Doctor of Ministry program at Wesley. In this book he addresses the contemplative - active paradox by honoring those who have chosen one or the other, while attempting to bring the two together by means of certain spiritual practices. 

Along the way Palmer reflects on the role of disillusionment in our spiritual formation. I have referred to this quote often down through the year last 20 years. Check out this quote....I hope it is helpful.

"For example, there is the experience we commonly call disillusionment, when a trusted friend lets us down, an institution we had relied on fails us, a vision we had believed in turns out to be a hoax, or worst of all, when we discover ourselves to be less than we had thought. Many of us try hard to avoid such experiences, and when we are in the midst of them we go through a kind of dying. But the very name we give these moments tell us that something positive is happening through our pain. We say we are being "disillusioned", that is, we are being stripped of some illusions about life, about others, about ourselves. As our illusions are removed, like barriers on the road, we have a chance to take that road further toward truth. Instead of commiserating and offering a shoulder to cry on when a friend says that he or she is disillusioned, we ought to congratulate, celebrate, and ask the friend how we can help the process to go deeper still.

Pain is one of the sure signs that contemplation is happening. Contemplation may lead eventually to bliss, but first it will give us the pain of knowing that some of our dearest convictions are shallow, inadequate, wrong. Contemplation first deprives us of familiar comforts. Then it replaces them with an inner emptiness in which new truth, often alien and unsettling truth, can emerge. The contemplative journey from illusion to reality may have peace as its destination, but en route it usually passes through some fearsome places."

To view Parker Palmer's website click HERE.