Parker Palmer on civility and politics

Last week Parker Palmer was part of a panel discussion at the Seattle City Club. I wish that I had been able to stay in Seattle long enough to hear him! But at least they’ve made the recording of the discussion available.

This discussion builds on Parker’s latest book, Healing the Heart of Democracy, which is a beautifully written and very important book. One of the most useful concepts he talks about in the book has to do with what happens when we stand in the tragic gap (standing in that space between “the harsh realities around us and what we know to be possible because we’ve seen it with our own eyes”). Being in that space, he says, our hearts will be broken. In acknowledging that reality he then goes on to ask whether we are preparing to have our hearts broken open, or broken into shards. His book talks about the former, offering a number of ideas and practices that might lead us there.