let your life speak
Parker Palmer Written by Brad Nelson
Let Your Life Speak
Chapter 1-Listening to Life
Quotes to think about
“They remind me of moments when it is clear-if I have eyes to see-that the life I am living is not the same as the life that wants to live in me” [p. 2].
“I had simply found a “noble” way to live a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart” [p. 3].
“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths to embody, what values you represent”
[p. 3].
“There may be moments in life when we are so unformed that we need to use values like an exoskeleton to keep us from collapsing” [p. 4].
“Vocation, the way I was seeking it, becomes an act of will, a grim determination that one’s life will go this way or that whether it wants to or not” [p. 4].
“Vocation does not come from willfulness…That insight is hidden in the word vocation itself, which is rooted in the Latin for “voice.” Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear” [p.4].
“We have a strange conceit in our culture that simply because we have said something, we understand what it means!” [p. 6]
“Verbalizing is not the only way our lives speak, of course. They speak through our actions and reactions, our intuitions and instincts, our feelings and bodily states of being, perhaps more profoundly than through our words” [p. 6].
“My life is not only about my strengths and virtues; it is also about my liabilities and my limits, my trespasses and my shadow” [p. 6].
Questions for Reflection
During which moments/activities do you feel most alive?
What are your feelings about someone doing the right thing for the wrong reason? In what ways do you hear from God?
What kinds of things most drain you? Stress you?
What activities give you the space to reflect
Let Your Life Speak
Chapter 1-Listening to Life
Quotes to think about
“They remind me of moments when it is clear-if I have eyes to see-that the life I am living is not the same as the life that wants to live in me” [p. 2].
“I had simply found a “noble” way to live a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart” [p. 3].
“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths to embody, what values you represent”
[p. 3].
“There may be moments in life when we are so unformed that we need to use values like an exoskeleton to keep us from collapsing” [p. 4].
“Vocation, the way I was seeking it, becomes an act of will, a grim determination that one’s life will go this way or that whether it wants to or not” [p. 4].
“Vocation does not come from willfulness…That insight is hidden in the word vocation itself, which is rooted in the Latin for “voice.” Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear” [p.4].
“We have a strange conceit in our culture that simply because we have said something, we understand what it means!” [p. 6]
“Verbalizing is not the only way our lives speak, of course. They speak through our actions and reactions, our intuitions and instincts, our feelings and bodily states of being, perhaps more profoundly than through our words” [p. 6].
“My life is not only about my strengths and virtues; it is also about my liabilities and my limits, my trespasses and my shadow” [p. 6].
Questions for Reflection
During which moments/activities do you feel most alive?
What are your feelings about someone doing the right thing for the wrong reason? In what ways do you hear from God?
What kinds of things most drain you? Stress you?
What activities give you the space to reflect