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April 15, 2015

Heartbreak, Violence, and Hope for New Life

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Violence is what happens when we don’t know what else to do with our suffering. But how do we turn the power of suffering toward new life? It depends on our willingness to exercise our hearts so that when suffering strikes, they are suppler and more able to break open to new life.

June 17, 2015

Maxims for Father’s Day

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Father's Day is just around the corner in the U.S. Parker Palmer shares some of his dad's most humorous gems and a poem by Dana Gioia to celebrate all the men in our lives.

September 2, 2015

A Wilderness Pilgrimage: Where We Go When We Die

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Our columnist ponders the resurrection that takes place under the most destructive circumstances and the "vast web of life in which body and spirit are one."

November 11, 2015

Contemplative by Catastrophe

Written by Parker J. Palmer

There are those people who know how to get ahead of the train wreck and those folks who are called to their senses after the collision has happened. But, catastrophe, too, can be a contemplative path if you choose to accept it.

January 13, 2016

The Importance of Shared Silence

Written by Parker J. Palmer

It's when we sit with our silence that the world opens before us, in ways large and small. Parker Palmer reflects on Gunilla Norris' poetic words and the regrounding silence brings.

March 9, 2016

Will Fascism Trump Democracy?

Written by Parker J. Palmer

The greatest threat to American democracy doesn't come from outside but from within. Parker Palmer serves up three traits to look for in a fascist leader — and words and a poem from Abraham Lincoln and W.H. Auden.

May 4, 2016

Rappelling Together, Downward and Inward

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Facing fear is easier said than done. Parker Palmer on having an empathetic imagination for the inner battles we're all fighting, especially those we can't see.

July 6, 2016

An Antidote for Self-Pity

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Learning from our mistakes doesn't mean we have to obsess over our failures. Parker Palmer and Mary Oliver on the space nature provides for catharsis, so that we can move on to self-forgiveness.

September 21, 2016

The Cosmos Cares for and Catches Us

Written by Parker J. Palmer

As the days grow shorter and the air grows crisp, Parker Palmer invokes Rainer Maria Rilke on lessons from the season: on having faith when we fall, and trusting in the mysterious resilience of life.

December 7, 2016

Darkness Can Be a Teacher

Written by Parker J. Palmer

As we turn the seasonal corner to the longest nights of the year, a reflection on the time we spend in the darkness, and what we can learn from it before turning back to the light.

February 28, 2017

Fierce and Tender Work of the Hands

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Parker looks fondly on the moments he spent as a child with his grandfather — whose life-giving hands brought forth craft and nurtured a little boy into the world with a fierce and stoic tenderness.

May 10, 2017

Loving the World Means Paying Attention to Its Simple Gifts

Written by Parker J. Palmer

An unlikely spring poem from Mary Oliver turns the dazzling darkness of nature into a lesson on embodying simple gratitude for the gifts we're offered each moment.

July 5, 2017

Perfection Will Do You In

Written by Parker J. Palmer

A monk with a "wicked sense of humor" inspires our columnist to pack his bags when it comes to attaining perfection.

September 19, 2017

Hope Is the Place Where Joy Meets the Struggle

Written by Parker J. Palmer

There's more to hope than optimism. Parker reads Victoria Safford on what it really means to stand in the place where hard, joyful work makes our vision for change come alive.

November 14, 2017

In Quiet Places, We Face the Questions That Can Make or Unmake Us

Written by Parker J. Palmer

A poem from David Whyte on escaping the noise of the world, and listening instead to “questions that can make or unmake a life.”

January 23, 2018

How To Be a Poet

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Gentle guidance for how to write — or simply to stay centered in our lives — from the poet Wendell Berry.

March 20, 2018

To Watch the World and Then Each Other

Written by Parker J. Palmer

When mornings and evenings roll along, watch how they open and close, how they invite you to the long party that your life is.

June 25, 2018

Welcome to the Brink of Everything

Written by Parker J. Palmer

How we travel the arc between our own sunrise and sundown is ours to choose: Will it be denial, defiance, or collaboration?

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