I Am with You Always

Sparrow, a transpersonal therapist who utilizes Tibetan yoga, has edited a collection of contemporary stories purporting to be about encounters with Jesus or Christ. The author synthesizes Eastern and Western (biblical) thought quite smoothly, but readers are left to judge credibility of unidentified witnesses about the encounters. Most, but not all, witnesses are under great stress or are disconsolate; and dramatic healings or reconciliations usually result. The Jesus who appears in these accounts is less like the biblical Jesus than like the angels of current fashion; Sparrow's Christ is simply too tame. Nor is it ever clear how the witnesses themselves know that it is Jesus whom they encounter; they seem to intuit without any way to verify or check. This uncritical identification of Jesus, while it may reflect the lingering, pervasive influence of Christianity, reflects as well the abandonment of rationalism; and the stories, although they are engagingly told, betray a deep and wide spiritual malaise. (Mar.)