In this essay on the cycles of story and song, John S. Dunne continues his quest for a clearer understanding and appreciation of the meaning of the spiritual journey. Using the same indirect and lyrical style he displayed in The Mystic Road of Love and Love's Mind: An Essay on Contemplative Love, the author again looks to J. R. R. Tolkien for assistance. He identifies four challenges we all face: searching for the meaning of an event, deciphering the signs, waiting for the heart to speak, and being alert to the opening of the way. Dunne relies on juicy quotations from Dag Hammarskjold, Etty Hillesum, Soren Kierkegaard, Franz Kafka, and other inner space travelers to spice up the proceedings.

This erudite volume is divided into chapters on the road of individuation, the road of reunion, the music of words, and the road of the heart's desire. Dunne circles around the importance of thinking and thanking, the concept of time, the loneliness of human beings, and the yearning for a deeper connection with others and the Source of All Beings. Again and again, he salutes the mysteriousness of the soul and the Holy One who gives more hints than systematic disclosures. We are fortunate to be major players in a redemptive story that is full of surprises and delivers a fair measure of joy. It elicits within us the enchantment of song. Dunne refers us to St. Thomas Aquinas who wrote in his introduction to the Psalms: "Song is the leap of the mind in the eternal breaking out into sound." Not bad.

It is always difficult to convey the subtleties of the yearning of our hearts for unity with God, others, and the abundant pleasures of life on Earth. In this richly textured paperback, Dunne does just that a commendable mix of philosophy, literary wisdom, and theological acumen.