Healing the Heart of Democracy (eBook)

PARKER J. PALMER, whose books have sold over a million copies, holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and eleven honorary doctorates. In 2011, the Utne Reader named him one of twenty-five "People Who Are Changing Your World." He is Founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal.

Introduction to the Paperback Edition xvii

Prelude The Politics of the Brokenhearted 1

Chapter i Democracy's Ecosystem 11

Chapter ii Confessions of an Accidental Citizen 29

Chapter iii The Heart of Politics 49

Chapter iv The Loom of Democracy 69

Chapter v Life in the Company of Strangers 89

Chapter vi Classrooms and Congregations 119

Chapter vii Safe Space for Deep Democracy 151

Chapter viii The Unwritten History of the Heart 175

Gratitudes 195

Notes 199

The author 219

Index 221

Healing the Heart of Democracy Discussion Guide 237

"He bravely takes on the current political climate, and this book
provides therapy for the American body politic. His insights are
heart-deep: America gains by living with tension and differences;
we can help reclaim public life by actions as simple as walking
down the street instead of driving. Hope's hardly cheap, but
history is made up of what Palmer calls 'a million invisible acts
of courage and the incremental gains that came with them.' This
beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that will benefit
from discussing it." --(A "Starred Review" from Publishers
Weekly, 8 August 2011)

"Healing the Heart of Democracy is a hopeful book that lifts
up and hallows the heart as a source of inner sight. Inspired by
the efforts to understand and undergird democracy by Abraham
Lincoln, Alexis de Tocqueville, Rosa Parks, and others; the author
sends us on our way rejoicing with the small portion of hope that
he has planted in our minds and souls." --(Spirituality
& Practice)

"There is a deep and disturbing cloud hanging over the United
States. It is a malaise that is leading to cynicism and
self-centeredness. The antidote is to be found in the healing of
the heart of our democracy, so that we might emerge from this
private focus to a public one, which recognizes our
interdependence. I know of no better guide to discerning the
problem and the solutions, than this book by Parker Palmer. It is a
prophetic book, one that needs to be taken with all due
seriousness, if we are to emerge from our malaise stronger and
healthier than before." --(Englewood Review of Books ,
2011)