Silvia de la Fe Gonzalez http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:50:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Food For Thought – Meaningful Conversations http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?p=82 http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?p=82#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:36:50 +0000 Silvia http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?p=82 Food for Thought: Meaningful Conversations from the Desert was born ‘out of Africa’ when I became hooked on community learning while sharing meals with colleagues and friends in the midst of Nyala, Arabic for “the place of chatting”, in Darfur, Sudan.

Food for Thoughtis an innovative, learning format where people of all backgrounds will share learnings, wisdom, experiences and knowledge together. From Fall to Spring of 2009-2010, we will offer specialized concentrated courses, tutorials and learning opportunities for those that seek wisdom.

]]> http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?feed=rss2&p=82 0 Parker Palmer http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?p=42 http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?p=42#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:36:08 +0000 Silvia http://silviagonzalez.org/silvia/?p=42 Parker Palmer was the first writer who really challenged me to deeply consider the meaning of vocation. He wrote a book called The Courage to Teach.

In this book he deals a great deal with the difference between job and vocation. He was a community organizer in Washington DC in the 60s and 70s and had suffered from depression. He was questioning all the work he was doing in Washington. He went on a retreat to a Quaker Centre and ended up not leaving the retreat centre for 11 years.

I found his journey very similar to mine. I find this quote of his particularly resonant:

parker-palmer-200“My vocation (to use the poet’s term) is the spiritual life, the quest for God, which relies on the eye of the heart. My avocation is education, the quest for knowledge, which relies on the eye of the mind. I have seen life through both these eyes as long as I can remember – but the two images have not always coincided… I have been forced to find ways for my eyes to work together, to find a common focus for my spirit-seeking heart and my knowledge-seeking mind that embraces reality in all its amazing dimensions.” (Parker Palmer, 1993)

To find out more about Parker Palmer visit this LINK.

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