Hello!
As I think a bit about the upcoming Festival of Faith & Writing event, I’m moved to read some of Politics of the Brokenhearted: On Holding Tensions of Democracy and John Woodman written by a hero of mine Parker J. Palmer.
Some of you already know that I’ve taught multiple times, at the graduate school level, on his work. He's been a guest on Spark My Muse before and he’s someone I've learned from and shared about for years. He even very kindly "highly recommended" and endorsed my first published book The Wild Land Within (2021) and I got to hear him when he was the keynote speaker at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin University in 2018.
It's the same place I hope to share about the Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers in 2026.
Below are the important links you need, just scroll down. ⬇️
Here is the episode link to listen: https://lisadelay.com/blog/faith-writing-ssl-319/
Read the document from Palmer for yourself here: https://couragerenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Parker-Palmer_politicsbrokenhearted.pdf
"We think of heartbreak as a personal, not a political, condition. But I believe that heartbreak offers a powerful lens through which to examine the well-being of the body politic. I want to use that lens to examine the way we hold tensions in politics as well as private life—a critical connection in a democracy that rises or falls on our individual and collective capacity to respond to conflict in a life-giving, not death-dealing way."
Politics of the Brokenhearted: On Holding Tensions of Democracy
Parker J. Palmer
Read the document from Palmer for yourself here: https://couragerenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Parker-Palmer_politicsbrokenhearted.pdf
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I ask for your nomination.
Below is the LINK to main page with Nomination link:
AND! Here is helpful INFO for the Nomination Form:
The weekly Spark My Muse podcast that I created and host has nearly 600 episodes and began in 2015.
category: nonfiction
• working title for book coming in 2026:
ENTICED: The Lives, Wisdom, and Eight Temptations of the
Spiritual Mothers and Fathers of the Desert—
and How Long Forgotten Desert Spirituality can set us Free
For the 2026 book, I'm blending history, practical teaching, and (typically) unknown spiritual wisdom of the Christian Desert Era for readers and I believe there's something to learn for most people, especially FF&W attendees.
Also during Lent in 2026 I will have a lenten devotional introducing the Ammas and Abba that pairs free material and live weekly classes for free.
• Book from 2021: The Wild Land Within
• sites related to me for the form (use some or all of these, or any others that you'd like:
lisadelay.com
sparkmymuse.substack.com
FB https://www.facebook.com/lisacolondelay
Insta: @lisacolondelay
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55182420-the-wild-land-within
Thank you very much!
Learn more about John Woolman ⬇️
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