The Compass
Vanguard Press – June 2009
Jonathan Taylor’s wife and only daughter are involved in a violently fatal car crash at an intersection near their home and after two months of counseling Taylor decides to fill a backpack and head out on a journey of healing that begins in the Nevada desert. “[I] left suburbia for the desert [with] no illusions that I would ever return.”
Out of water and crawling across the scorching sand, Taylor is found on the precipice of death by a terminally ill psychologist living her final days taking photographs of the desert because that’s where her inner compass had led her. Brought back to life with water from her canteen, Taylor travels with his savior to the Adirondack mountains, where he meets the next “angel” who adds another measure of healing and enlists him as a companion on a trip to Europe, where he . . . you get the idea.
The Compass (Vanguard Press 2009) is a pleasant metaphor told in first person narrative with enough creativity to hold interest while not falling into an allegorical abyss. You get the feeling that Taylor’s travels could be a true story.
Taylor is living with the grief of a lost loved one, but the lessons taught by the people he meets could easily apply to loss of a job, a broken relationship or even a mid-life crisis.
The characters ever-so-sparingly weave biblical references into their conversation and there is one reference to prayer near the end. The lessons aren’t subtle or veiled, nor do they come across as “preachy.”
The Compass is also part of a multi-faceted self-help program including web sites, videos and personal coaching — chapter-by-chapter study notes are provided for readers wanting more help in finding their own bearings — and despite the obvious pop-psychology connection it’s a good read with a few jewels of thought provocation sprinkled throughout.
The Compass
Tammy Kling & John Spencer Ellis
Vanguard Press June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59315-542-1
