Growing Down Stories Exploring Human Dignity
Added: (Tue Dec 31 2019)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Barry Robinson’s latest book, Growing Down, is a warm and inviting collection of short stories which explore human nature and spiritual growth. Both the title of the book and the cover illustration showing a Celtic Tree of Life refer to our spiritual and psychological development. As we root down into the fullness of our existence, we are able to grow and evolve, connecting to both the worldly and the sacred.
Each chapter presents a colourful vignette from the decades of Barry’s life that he worked as a Minister of the United Church of Canada and as a clinical psychotherapist. The stories are both entertaining, and thought provoking, inspiring the reader to consider deeper moral truths which lay beneath the surface details.
Robinson introduces us to a wide variety of memorable characters through the many different scenarios of each chapter, from an intimidating biker in the middle of a cold winter’s eve in The Night Visitor, to a freckle faced girl in Who’m I now!? It is a testament to the author’s descriptive and evocative prose that these personalities stay with the reader long after the story’s end.
Robinson’s treatment of his characters is shallow, owing to the brevity of the stories, but it is not superficial or insubstantial. In only a few pages, we glimpse into the psyche of former patients and members of his congregation, finding there the common ground of human experience. Although some stories relate deeply personal matters, the details are never shared in a way that exploits the subjects, but rather show the author’s compassion for all of us on this grand adventure of life.
Many of the stories are also peppered with interesting and original allegories of different faith traditions. From a variation of the biblical parable of David and Goliath in Saving Goliath to a traditional Japanese tale of heaven and hell in Uh-huh! to Ram Dass’ story of his mother’s funeral in A Seagull Named Papa, Robinson weaves timeless and true axioms throughout the pages of the book.
In the memorable chapter Dragon Fire, Robinson returns to the story which inspired his previous book, Lucifer Grows in Our Garden: An Anatomy of Clergy Abuse. This difficult period in Barry’s life is revisited in other stories as well, but ultimately, Growing Down is a book which presents an optimistic view of humanity and of life, in spite of its challenges. The last few stories truly represent the subtitle of this collection, Stories Exploring Human Dignity.
Robinson concludes with a deeply personal tale which is embodied by a quote he shares earlier from Father John Shea: “Love is not blind but a process of penetrating sight. It knows the heart and helps it toward salvation.” In Growing Down, Barry Robinson lovingly and insightfully examines our human and our spiritual nature. It is through this self-examination and deeper knowing that we may all find redemption.
Where to purchase:
• Volumes Direct: http://www.volumesdirect.com/detail.aspx?ID=5634
• Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/growing-down/9780968534625-item.html?ikwid=growing+down&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Down-Barry-J-Robinson/dp/0968534627/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=growing+down+barry+robinson&qid=1577731060&sr=8-2