| When a middle-aged man decides to take a vacation to the desert, he just plans to get away from it all for a while. Little does he know he will come to terms with his spirituality. An age-less Indian named Tom has wisdom to impart the teaching he needs.
Time Spent in the Desert Can Create A Rich New Spiritual Life
Jerry wishes he could leave all his troubles behind and make sense of it. Determined just to relax after a failed relationship, he heads west little expecting the spiritual adventure he will embark upon in Dr. Jerry Burgener's new novel Desert Journey. Jerry is a middle-aged man whose life has been rocked by a recently failed relationship. He takes a trip for several months to the American Southwest, where he hopes to spend the majority of his time riding horses and forgetting about another failed relationship. Instead he "accidentally" runs into an age-less Indian, and from that point, he has work to do - work that is part of his inner journey.
Tom, Jerry's new Indian friend, agrees to be his teacher after Jerry tells him his goals in life are to be happy and to learn the lessons life has chosen for him. Jerry soon discovers he and Tom have known each other in past lives. By exploring those past lives, Jerry learns tolerance and a better understanding for the man he has become in this lifetime. Desert Journey demonstrates the value of relationships and the lessons spirit requires we learn to continue our lives and teach others.
Burgener uses several of his own experiences and his familiarity with the Southwest to give his prose a depth and poetry beyond typical self-help books. Written as a novel, Desert Journey personalizes its advice to serve as an intimate guide to readers who want to take their own journeys of exploration.
Besides being a powerful spiritual adventure, the story is filled with strong sensory details. The setting is the Southwest and Superstition Mountain, a jagged mountaintop with its own distinct energy that made the Pima Indians believe spirits stood upon it. Burgener's descriptive passages make the reader feel the warm nuzzle of a horse on his arm, smell the crisp, clean desert air, savor the sight of the multi-hued canyon walls changing with the light, and hear the sharp screech of a hawk flying overhead. The story becomes so real that readers will have experienced their own Desert Journey by the time they turn the last page.
Writer Jerry Burgener's life has been as interesting as it has been varied. He has a Ph.D. in Human Learning and has worked in schools, mental health organizations, and as a forensic psychologist for the Department of Corrections. Dr. Jerry says his life experiences are equally as important as his work and education. He has skydived more than 1,400 times, has spent 3,000 hours flying airplanes and helicopters, actively scuba dives and repels, and is an avid motorcycle rider. Dr. Jerry trains horses, riding them in the Midwest, as well as the desert Southwest. Throughout his life, a dominant theme has been his studying and exploring of relationships, which are a key focus in Desert Journey.
©Copyright
2008 by AlternativeApproaches.com
|
Printer Friendly Page