This is a new preface I wrote tonight for my spiritual memoir Chased by the Wind: A Youth’s Literary Search for God, which is available for Kindle, Nook and iPad:

A note to the reader: I wrote the first draft of this book in 2006, when I was 38 and still very settled in the popular belief that Christianity was the “true” religion among all other religions. And while I have not rejected the teachings of Christ by any means, I have certainly transcended their western interpretation in more recent years.

Numerous studies, insights and conversations have taken me deeper, to a place that appreciates the common mythological symbols found across cultures and religions. This ubiquitous human quest for God points to a shared, divine consciousness that is beyond dogma, beyond names and ultimately inclusive.

Chased by the Wind, then, should be viewed simply for what it is: a snapshot in time, taken by a man in his late 30s…who was reflecting back on the journey of a youth whose search for the divine was made evident through a significant body of creative work. The man writing this preface is now in his early 40s, but the younger self is still a part of me; and the whole person’s thirst and hunger for divine understanding and reconciliation remain as strong as ever.