40-Day Journey with Parker J. Palmer

by Henry Flagg French

Few Protestant writers today can match the influence of Parker Palmer on American spirituality, contemplative practice, and Quaker values. Palmer, who is founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, a non-profit organization that provides support for people in the service professions, has published dozens of poems, essays, and seven books, including the bestselling A Hidden The Journey toward an Undivided Life.

Drawing from his published works, series editor Henry French here selects 40 inspiring passages from Palmer's writings that reflect Palmer's spiritual journey and invites readers to explore their own spirituality under the guidance of this noted author, educator, and activist.

When the 40-day journey is over, it will no longer be the guide's description of the journey that stirs the reader's longing for God, but rather the reader's experience of the journey that grounds her or his faith and life.

40-Day Journey with Parker J. Palmer opens with a short introduction to the life of Parker Palmer and then offers forty chapters, each of which includes a reading from his writings, related Scripture passages, questions to ponder, journal-reflection exercises, and a prayer. The book also includes helps on how to use the book and hints on keeping a journal along with ideas for further reading. Each chapter in the book includes space for notes.

Genres: Spirituality

116 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Sharon Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finish this a while ago, used it as my Lenten devotional… I'm going to repeat it for advance as there was a lot to think about…

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 40-day Journey series is a go to series for me. When I need some serious thought and writing prompts these books are a good kick start. However, it is important to remember that the texts by the various authors are taken out of context and each volume has a different editor so there are some inconsistencies to be expected. Overall, though, these are books that I will return to.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than take a 40-day journey, I took a 40-week journey, using the thought exercizes and prompts throughout the week to reflect. This is the type of book you want to take slowly and it's worth redoing ever few years: your thoughts and ideas change over time, ditto your community (both faith and secular). Many of the exercizes were not done as completely as they could have been, so perhaps my revisiting of this will be next year. We'll see.

My only problem is that the sequencing of the readings isn't as smooth as it could be. At times I felt as though there was a transition to a new group of ideas that was abrupt - more careful curation would have helped with those movements

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not special. Just excerpts from his other books which I have all read.