ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512270110
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY MARIE BEAN
IN SEARCH OF STONES: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason, and Discovery. By Dr. M. Scott Peck. Hyperion. $22.95.
"In Search of Stones" could as well be called "The Confessions of M. Scott Peck." In May 1992, Peck, best-selling author, and his wife, Lily, embarked on a three-week vacation through Wales, Scotland and the Lake District in England. They were looking for stones, those prehistoric, mysterious stone circles and other megaliths that have intrigued countless human beings since they were discovered.
Fascinated as Peck is with the stones, however, his primary interest is mystery which goes far deeper. "One focus," he writes, "will be the mystery of me. But that focus is interwoven with the mystery of Lily and our marriage, the mystery of this particular journey, the mystery of God, and perhaps above all, the mystery of our not so reasonable human race."
"In Search of Stones" is composed of 20 chapters and a conclusion, each corresponding to a day in their journey. Each day's experience provides a springboard for Peck's reflections on a wide range of spiritual, psychological and philosophical truths. He manages to include almost every significant concern common to human experience. As always, he writes with passion and naked honesty.
Peck calls "In Search of Stones" the "closest thing to an autobiography I will ever write."
He belongs to the school of thought which holds that not only is honest confession good for one's own soul, it is good for the hearer or reader as well.
In simple and moving prose he describes for us intimate details of his own fears and shortcomings, the pain of estrangement from his three adult children, the strength of his marriage despite his sexual infidelities, his own aging and the surrender of leadership.
Peck's aim ultimately is not to entertain or even to change the life of one reader; he aims to help change the whole world. The chapter "Peace" is at the heart of what Peck and his wife believe and teach with evangelistic fervor.
In 1983 he gave up private practice in psychiatry and has since given his life to promoting community and world understanding.
He and Lily banded together with others to establish the Foundation for Community Encouragement to teach "the laws of the miracle of peace."
"Community" is the key word here. As he wrote in "The Different Drum": "There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace and ultimately no life - without community."
The text of this absorbing and highly readable book is rich in descriptive detail, and enhanced by the evocative crayon drawings of his son, Christopher.
Marie Bean is a retired college chaplain.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Dr. M. Scott Peck.by CNB