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In Search of Sacred Places: Looking for Wisdom on Celtic Holy Islands

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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.

I've visited all three of these places and, at least for me, Taylor has captured a good bit of their magic. His writing is easy to read and entertaining and leavened with just the right touch of humor.

Literature and writing professor Daniel Taylor presents In Search Of Sacred Places, the testimony of his spiritual quest and journey toward understanding in his experience among islands once considered holy to the ancient Celts. Part history, part memoir, part travelogue, part spiritual quest, and part personal introspection, In Search Of Sacred Places ponders both the unknowable and the mundane, and brims with the author's abiding insights and wonder. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this deeply respectful and spiritual account.

One moment Taylor will have you pondering a simple yet astounding truth and the next you'll be laughing over the sad state of his family's car rental. His style of writing is very approachable and endearing. In this book you will not have to deal with a self-righteous narrator on his way to tell you how to reach his level of spirituality. Rather, Dan Taylor openly admits his doubts, concerns, and failures. But, he also gives us something to aspire to and helps us to seek out our own pilgrimages not only when we're abroad, but also when we come home again.

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.