tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post2622203606911477141..comments2024-02-22T22:14:28.796-06:00Comments on The Wild Reed: In the Garden of Spirituality - Parker PalmerMichael J. Baylyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-32215490892921610352010-06-25T23:07:00.877-05:002010-06-25T23:07:00.877-05:00Michael- would enjoy a 'vocation/life work'...Michael- would enjoy a 'vocation/life work' talk over coffee sometime. I was heavy into it for many years and have taken a break to get to know myself without any of the 'tools' or helping hands of authors. I'm back into reading the same and incorporating a fuller, maybe more organic application to my life and what in the world 'work' looks like.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing...GrantAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14947828415136413477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-91304946787715395522010-06-23T14:32:00.151-05:002010-06-23T14:32:00.151-05:00You're right, Bob, when you say that Palmer is...You're right, Bob, when you say that Palmer is surely not an "individualist."<br /><br />Later in the chapter I quote from in this post, he writes:<br /><br />"Contrary to the conventions of our thinly moralistic culture, this emphasis on gladness and selfhood is not selfish. The Quaker teacher Douglas Steele was fond of saying that the ancient human question 'Who am I?' leads inevitably to the equally important question 'Whose am I?' - for there is no selfhood outside of relationship. We must ask the question of selfhood and answer it as honestly as we can, no matter where it takes us. Only as we do so can we discover the community of our lives.<br /><br />"As I learn more about the seed of true self that was planted when I was born, I also learn more about the ecosystem in which I was planted - the network of communal relationships in which I am called to live responsively, accountably, and joyfully with beings of every sort. Only when I know both seed and system, self and community, can I embody the great commandment to love both my neighbor and myself."<br /><br />I see now that this part of the chapter should've been included in my excerpt. In fact, I think I'll add it to this post. Thanks for raising the questions you did, Bob, and thus facilitating a clarifying revision of this post.<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />MichaelMichael J. Baylyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-75968789983757900132010-06-23T14:20:12.714-05:002010-06-23T14:20:12.714-05:00Michael, thank you for this thoughtful post. I agr...Michael, thank you for this thoughtful post. I agree wholeheartedly that we cannot forget the "self" when discerning vocation. One must indeed come to a clear awareness of "know thyself" if s/he is to be any good to others relationally speaking.<br /><br />My concern lies in the semi-platonic idea of "birth-right gifts," and the system of forgetting such gifts at an early childhood age (either naturally or through oppressive social systems) and then only later learning to remember what they were. This kind of thought process can easily lead to a sense of extreme individualism, i.e. depending solely on the self when discerning one's gifts. Moreover, it does not take into account the importance of community and the liturgical lifestyle of the church organic (i.e. the local baptized) in helping to foster one's gifts of the Spirit in a positve and meaningful way.<br /><br />Further, the "self" is indeed important, but not as a means in itself. In as much as the other cannot exist apart from the "I" without becoming wholly objectified as an "it". Meaning, I believe human beings are by nature relational, and the self is only part of who we are as "persons".<br /><br />Here I allude to Buber's philosophy of personhood: I & Thou. Knowing one's self is important only if it can authentically relate to the other as "thou" as a relational reflection of you.<br /><br />So what does all this mean? Knowing some of Palmer's other works, I would like to read this latest book of his b/c he is surely not an "individualist." Rather, Palmer truly believes in the importance of community combined with a proper and healthy awareness of one's self within such a community.<br /><br />I will have to add this book to my ever-increasing summer reading list!<br /><br />Peace, BobBobhttp://oldcatholicinnorthamerica.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-18070892826642108802010-06-23T10:08:39.121-05:002010-06-23T10:08:39.121-05:00Michael: Thank you for posting this wonderful piec...Michael: Thank you for posting this wonderful piece on vocation that absolutely rings with truth. I am frankly surprised that you are praying about your vocation. It appears to me, as I am sure it does to many others, that you already have and are fulfilling a sacred vocation as a writer and Catholic reformer. Of course, we know ourselves best.Ross Lonerganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425058539248402978noreply@blogger.com