Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

Word and Deed: Thoughts on Faith-Based Leadership

A Hidden Wholeness - Welcoming and Weaving the Soul

Shirley Nelson Some books should come with a warning label: CAUTION: THE MATERIAL YOU'RE ABOUT TO READ MAY CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION.

That is how you might feel after reading Parker J. Palmer's recent book, A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward An Undivided Life. In the book, he explores the complexity of the soul and the dividedness that creates a life of contradiction and keeps our inner and outer worlds out of harmony. As the book's jacket says, "he speaks to our yearning to live undivided lives--lives that are congruent with our inner truth--in a world filled with the forces of fragmentation."

If you're familiar with Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak and The Courage to Teach, you know that he is a passionate and insightful writer who tends to dive into the deep end of the pool with topics that engage the heart and free the soul. Much of Palmer's writing is fueled by his struggle with depression that led him to a nervous breakdown. In the midst of that storm, he managed to hold on to a spark of light that led to a vocation as a successful writer and speaker. As a Quaker, he identifies this indomitable spirit as an inner light that is inherent within each of us.

In A Hidden Wholeness, Palmer's describes his relentless quest for an undivided life and a form of community known as a circle of trust—a way of living within a community of souls invested in living authentically. A circle of trust, designed to fit the limits of our active lives, supports us in mapping our inner journey and serves as "a space between us that honors the soul." Palmer's description of this kind of community, and his invitation to participate in it, may test the boundaries of your faith and leave you thirsty for a community of people to support you in your efforts to expand your spiritual horizon.

Circles of trust are facilitated by people who are naturally adept at leading others in doing inner work or who have been trained to do so. The circle's space must be kept "open and free and yet focused on things of the soul." Ground rules help to anchor the intention of each group in order to prevent meaningless meanderings that lead to unproductive meetings. Because truth cannot always be approached directly, circles of trust incorporate methods that encourage the shy soul to emerge through the power of metaphor—a poem, a story, a movie, music, or a piece of art.

Many circles of trust also incorporate another discernment method by which the Quakers access the gifts of the soul, called a "clearness committee." The clearness committee allows for open and honest questions; as Palmer describes, "It is a focused microcosm of a larger circle of trust, a setting in which we have an intense experience of what it means to gather in support of someone's inner journey."

Choosing to live an undivided life takes courage and concentrated effort on our part. However, if it leads us to the discovery of our true self so that we are "divided no more," it's got to be worth the trip! May you be blessed to travel lightly as you embrace your hidden wholeness.

Shirley Nelson

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