Let Dan Taylor take you to unplanned destinations, traveling with a family grouping of seven in an unreliable Toyota van over forbidding roads and through staggering vistas. Perhaps not your idea of a relaxing vacation; but Dan (an English literature professor friend) in his "...Search of Sacred Places" doesn't intend to make the reader comfortable. However, his sense of humor is evident in facing unscheduled, difficult obstacles as is his awe at the devotion of Celtic extremists and frustration over his own frailties along with those of spoiled 21st century Christians. He smoothly blends Celtic biographies and historic Christianity along with insights from loved English poets, leaving the reader - and himself - with more questions to answer than when the Taylor clan first set out on pilgrimage. A thoughtful book to reread and give to others.

Although the sacred places Taylor shares with us are moving, it is his personal honesty, humility and his wry humor that make sacredness and pilgrimage, commitment and faith, accessible. I am grateful to the author for voicing the questions and the doubts that I have as he (and I and many others) try to live our lives in ways that keep us awake to the wonders and blessings of our world in the midst of what often seems hopeless.