Christine's Philosophical Journey to Paris - Revised Edition

Christine's Philosophical Journey to Paris - Revised Edition is a story about a young woman who is seeking understanding but also fleeing a troubled past. Guilt drove Christine from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and love and death cause her to leave San Diego for Paris, France, where she hopes to continue her quest for the truth about herself and about the world she now feels a stranger in. This quest not only gives Christine’s life new purpose but hope that her shattered identity might be restored. The journey that began as a flight from disgrace becomes an adventure of rediscovery.


Where will she find the truth she seeks? In religion, history, philosophy, science, or some combination of those disciplines validated by her own life experience? In the Book of Exodus God reveals himself to Moses as “I Am Who I Am.” The same can be said of the truth: “It is what it is.” Anything else is falsehood and deception. And like the god of the Old Testament, the truth is not always friendly or accommodating. Yet unlike the god of the Old Testament, the truth does not play favorites.


What is the truth that Christine seeks? It is not a single thing but a region, a cosmos of understanding because it resides in each and every thing that makes up the cosmos, in each atom, every star and planet, in every grain of sand and every snowflake, every plant and animal, and in each and every human being—where the truth becomes most complex, obscure, and mysterious. When Christine fled her home she did not fully realize that she was not only fleeing but also seeking, but what she was seeking remained hidden from her until she met the old philosopher fisherman and became fascinated by his strange philosophy. The encounter gave new purpose to her life, which is what she needed because disgrace would not allow her to return to the old homeworld. The retired seaman speaks gently but philosophizes with a hammer. Like Abraham he smashes idols of ignorance.


In their place he offers his own dream-like vision of the world, but he tells Christine that she should not accept his version of the truth but seek her own because though the truth is what it is its meaning is unique to each person. Though she does not wish to leave the old fisherman philosopher, she can no longer remain in her home by the sea. Thus begins Christine’s philosophical journey to Paris. There she will not continue her quest alone. A young Frenchman artist named Édouard finds himself enthralled by the beautiful young American woman and seeks to win her affection. Whether he succeeds is left to the reader to discover.