ALWAYS PARTLY BROKEN, by the writer, Raymond Geers, is a novel based on a true story - my life story. I decided to present the story as literary fiction, the focus being on the way the narrator wrestles with the past in his present state of mid-life crisis. Here is how I describe the book on its back cover: "We are all novices in some aspects at some times. Who among us is spared from ever fumbling under pressure? Who could refrain from laughing at our super-serious times when we stressed ourselves out so needlessly in matters great and small? And who, I wonder, would not be eternally grateful for a love
that refused to bail on us when everyone, and especially we ourselves, gave up on our biggest dream?"
Raymond Adam is a lifelong spiritual seeker plagued by a desire for perfection. In his midlife, that desire seems safely tucked away in a dusty corner of his memory. But dreams from the past have invaded his consciousness. With both a wariness of danger and a longing for wholeness, he begins to recall his former life as a monk in a Catholic monastery. When he allows himself to re-live both the joys and sorrows of this time, he discovers a voice speaking to his present condition which offers him a new take on all that is, that was and ever shall be.
It is probably a safe guess that I, you, and the world about us will always be partly broken. What this teaches me is that we cannot avoid being related to brokenness. It doesn’t matter how strong we think we are in ourselves or in our positions or in our possessions; if we are related to this world of fragile beings, we are related to brokenness. Understand what I’m saying? It sounds like a spiritual dampening, but there is an upside to this as well. Within this brokenness shines a beauty beyond any perfection that we could seek or manufacture on our own. (2 Corinthians 4: 7). I know it is a faith statement and not a provable datum of science, but it seems to me that to be always partly broken is to be also ALWAYS PARTLY OPEN to a greater mystery and a deeper loveliness. Herein lies the hidden grace and the wonder that my story, in its own broken fashion, attempts to shine a light upon. It might not be obvious in the first chapters or in the first reading, but please give it a chance to entertain you with the idea. Perhaps you will find another message which the author did not intend but which is just as true. Even this is alright and beautiful.
Ultimately, the main discovery of my book, and of the life it points to, is love and compassion for everyone eventually. Even if the immature main character at times seems to throw persons under the bus - including his younger self, his God, the church, the monks, his elders, and the modern world we live in (as tribes in continual conflict) - he ultimately learns to let go of judgments, to forgive and appreciate the life that is here and now. More is possible here than what first meets the eye. I pray you find that this little book speaks to your condition.