Good News Book Club The Desert Pilgrim by Mary Swander Buy book: $16.73
Revealing what it means in this modern age to believe, an award-winning writer, poet, and radio commentator relates her inspiring journey of physical and spiritual healing in the American Southwest.
This one will be next on my list, after The Blossom Shop. That should carry me through the weekend. Such inspiration, I will propose this book to my church reading group.
Thanks for this one that so many, including me without this website, will miss.
I got this book from the library after reading the excerpts, mainly because a friend of mine leads spiritual pilgrimages to the deserts of New Mexico and Egypt. I found the book had little to do with actual desert experiences and could have been placed in any down-and-out city neighborhood in the US. I was ok with the book overall, even the alternative medicine endorsements, until the end. Suddenly, the author's spiritual advisor turns from a mostly silent Zen figure who leads by gentle example into a long-winded preacher. It is not hard to see that the author uses this 'character' to sum up her lessons learned through the journey; but more a more subtle approach would have been more effective. For Christians reading the Good News selections, I would say that the basic messages of community and loving your neighbor are there, but New Age type elements are heavily present as well.
