Short Trip to the Edge : Where Earth Meets Heaven - A Pilgrimage Book

While walking on the beach with his Labrador, poet and literature professor Scott Cairns ran headlong into his midlife crisis. Cairns realized that his spiritual life was moving at a snail's pace and time was running out. This crisis launched Cairns on a search for what it means to have a "prayer life, leading him to set out on a spiritual journey to the mystical Greek peninsula of Mount Athos.

With a humorous yet humble voice and a poet's exquisite prose, Cairns immerses his readers in the history and power of the holy mountain and the faith of the monks who worship there. For centuries this ancient and austere place has been the spiritual center of the Orthodox Church. Only monks live there and only male pilgrims are allowed to visit its twenty monasteries and numerous "sketes. Cairns candidly shares the physical and spiritual realities of his pilgrimage, from his conversations with monastic leaders to mealtime conventions, never losing sight of his search for a prayer father in his quest to discover the true prayer life. The harsh beauty of Mount Athos and the devoted lives of its people are more than simply a backdrop for this remarkable story of spiritual growth; they are an integral part of Cairns's experience as a modern pilgrim.