Is Your Life Speaking?

Is Your Life Speaking? Recently I’ve been rereading Parker Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation. Published in 2000, I’ve probably read this small, thoughtful book more than 20 times. While it has its original dust jacket, it is dog-eared, the spine it broken and it is a bit raggedy.

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Speaking and Listening In

I have a long relationship with public speaking. I’ve spoken as a historical interpreter in a living history museum, zoo educator in two different zoos, and in all kinds of educational settings. I’ve been the primary speaker at funeral services where I’ve had the privilege of telling a life story. Most recently, I’ve spoken in churches and organizations about bereavement, grief, and loss.

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Rock and a Hard Place

I was recently praying about a difficult decision someone I love is facing. There are two obvious choices at hand. Both choices are beautiful, rich, and exciting. In this moment, even such rich choices feel difficult because they involve change, risk, something new, possible loss, and challenges. As a result, it is hard to know which direction to go. In fact, it is agonizing, uncertain, and uncomfortable being in this position.

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A Little Help

Grief brings us into new encounters with ourselves and others. My own losses taught me that I wasn’t very good at asking for or accepting help. In fact, I rarely asked for help at all – instead trying to muscle through my loss experiences with willpower alone. Slowly, I learned that it didn’t have to be that way. In fact, there were people around me who wanted to help.

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