The human soul doesn't want to be fixed, it simply wants to be seen and heard. The soul is like a wild animal - tough, resilient and shy. When we go crashing through the woods shouting for it to come out so we can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may show itself.
Parker J. PalmerIn my own life, as winters turn into spring, I find it not only hard to cope with mud but also hard to credit the small harbingers of larger life to come, hard to hope until the outcome is secure. Spring teaches me to look more carefully for the green stems of possibility; for the intuitive hunch that may turn into a larger insight, for the glance or touch that may thaw a frozen relationship, for the stranger's act of kindness that makes the world seem hospitable again.
Parker J. PalmerLetโs not forget that American democracy started with โWe the Peopleโ agreeing to work hard to create โa more perfect union.โ Weโve lost the idea that politics begins at home with what happens in families, in neighborhoods, in classrooms, in congregations. We called this democracy into being โ and if we want to call this democracy back to its highest values, itโs got to be the us doing that calling. Thatโs not going to happen if โWe the Peopleโ donโt know how to talk to one another with civility and hold our differences in a creative, life-giving way.
Parker J. Palmer