Healing the Heart of Democracy

Download or read book Healing the Heart of Democracy written by Parker J. Palmer and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-07-31 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hope for American democracy in an era of deep divisions In Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker J. Palmerquickens our instinct to seek the common good and gives us thetools to do it. This timely, courageous and practicalwork—intensely personal as well as political—is notabout them, "those people" in Washington D.C., or in ourstate capitals, on whom we blame our political problems. It's aboutus, "We the People," and what we can do in everyday settingslike families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations andworkplaces to resist divide-and-conquer politics and restore agovernment "of the people, by the people, for the people." In the same compelling, inspiring prose that has made him abestselling author, Palmer explores five "habits of the heart" thatcan help us restore democracy's foundations as we nurture them inourselves and each other: An understanding that we are all in this together An appreciation of the value of "otherness" An ability to hold tension in life-giving ways A sense of personal voice and agency A capacity to create community Healing the Heart of Democracy is an eloquent andempowering call for "We the People" to reclaim ourdemocracy. The online journal Democracy & Educationcalled it "one of the most important books of the early 21stCentury." And Publishers Weekly, in a Starred Review, said"This beautifully written book deserves a wide audience that willbenefit from discussing it."