Community That Reveals Hidden Wholeness
Parker Palmer is a Quaker who discovered how to connect his inner self to his outer self when he allowed himself to experience the practices he outlines in this book. He shares some of his journey and how experiencing community with others in an environment that is safe allows us to discover the true self within us; the one we once knew, but have either lost touch with or have squelched because of the demands of our world.
Palmer shares an approach to developing a community that allows people to explore their soul without judgment; allowing the soul to emerge and share with us all that it desires to be and do. Through the development of “Circles of Trust” we can connect our inner self or soul to our outer self or the person who we appear to be in this world; eventually connecting these two and creating for ourselves a wholeness that allows us to thrive. This wholeness allows our lives to fee the soul and the soul to guide our lives.
As we engage in a circle of trust and follow the guidelines of such a circle, we in effect learn to live non-violently towards others. We learn to be true soul mates for others; supporters who do not offer judgment, advice but help hold the soul of that person in a safe place where it can be discovered.
I particularly enjoyed Palmers description of Clearness Committees. As a current “Member In Discernment”, I believe this is what I would hope my discernment committee could be. This is a group of individuals who come together to probe with specific guidelines about how they will engage a person in order to help draw out the wisdom of the soul.
This is an excellent book for leaders in the church. There are concepts in this book that can be applied to a variety of situations and groups, but more importantly the development of specific Circles of Trust within our communities can bring wholeness and vitality to those whom we serve.
