Promise of Paradox

On Living the Paradox of Christian Life . . . . "It is a real joy for me to introduce this first book by Parker Palmer. It is the joy that grows from friendship. I met Parker for the first time only five years ago and today I can hardly think of my life and work apart from the crucial role that Parker has played in them. "The issues that Parker discusses are basic: solitude, community, social action, political responsibility, prayer, and contemplation. They are raised in the context of the words of William Johnston: 'Faith is the breakthrough into that deep realm of the soul which accepts paradox . . . with humility.' Accepting paradox with humility is the spirit that binds the quite diverse pieces of this book together. And it is the spirit that makes this book worth reading. "I hope and pray that those who read these essays will sense the spirit in which they were written and thus be challenged as I have been to break out of illusions and compulsions and seek a new freedom."—From the 1980 introduction by Henri Nouwenauthor of The Wounded Healer, The Way of the Heart, and other classic works of Christian spirituality