Book review by Tom Gilbert
June 20, 2011

Author – S. T. Georgiou
Novalis Publishing Inc.
http://www.novalis.ca/

This book is the third that S. T. Georgiou has written containing his reflections, contemplation and insight into the spiritual life resulting from his association with the late poet Robert Lax. The Isle of Monte Cristo is subtitled Finding the Inner Treasure and indeed the point of the book is to encourage readers to discover the inner treasure that leads to eternal wealth. It is not monetary or material; it is the richness of the kingdom of heaven and found in the limitless depths of agape and fully expressed through Christ Jesus.

Many books have been written about spiritual awakening and life purpose. This one resonates with me for I feel that Georgiou has a message that is both clear and beautiful. Much of this beauty is the result of the spirit lessons Lax taught him. Their meeting was strange and mystical. At the time, in 1993, Georgiou was feeling aimless and a bit lost about his life purpose. He journeyed to the isle of Patmos, the idyllic Greek island revered by many Christians as the place that St. John experienced the Revelation, the highly mystical encounter with Jesus and Heaven chronicled in the Bible’s Book of Revelation. It was an apt place for Georgiou to be renewed, but he could not have foreseen that his chance meeting with Robert Lax (known as a deeply spiritual man and minimalist poet that Thomas Merton called his best friend) would have such a profound effect over the next decade.

 The author chronicles his initial meeting and experiences that followed over the next few years in his first book, The Way of the Dreamcatcher: Spirit Lessons with Robert Lax—Poet, Peacemaker, Sage. Lax became his mentor and Georgiou would return several times to the island to experience love and guidance. He was privileged to develop a great friendship with Lax in the poet’s final years. While studying for his doctorate at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, Georgiou wrote Mystic Street: Meditations on a Spiritual Path. The book reveals spiritual insights, many he experienced in everyday life in common places. He likely would not have noticed without Lax’s influence. 

 The latest book brings Georgiou’s story full circle and the trilogy is inspiring and helpful to anyone who is pondering where they want to go and what they want to do with their life. I’ve been constantly surprised in my own reading of the books how they have helped me gain insight into matters that have been personally significant. Often the insight has come at just the right time for my own journey. In this way Georgiou is continuing the legacy of Robert Lax. The student has become the teacher.

You will undoubtedly have wondered at the title of The Isle of Monte Cristo. It is purposely patterned on the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas. Although the novel contains a theme of vengeance fueled by monetary treasure it, too, has a spiritual message at its heart. Georgiou capitalizes on the metaphor to encourage readers to embark on their own hunt to find a hidden treasure spoken of by Jesus in one of his wonderful parables about true riches (see Matthew 13:44).

In our world many things are valued, but so many are false, illusory or selfish. Material wealth is fine unless it becomes the aim. Living for others and being in the flow of unconditional love is to experience God. This is grace and on the pages of Georgiou’s book I found numerous expressions of agape. He finds it on the beach, climbing a mountain to a monastery, in icons and even in his classroom. These examples from his experiences are both practical and revelatory. All the while the author credits Lax for pointing him to the true guiding star. Lax understood that being Christ-like is not unattainable. It is the path each Jesus follower is invited to tread. It is the great adventure that carries a message we all long to hear, that life means something and we discover it when we each find the inner treasure buried in our hearts, put there by the Creator.

This book was recently recognized the The Catholic Journalist as "Best Spirituality, Soft Cover - Second Place" (see here). It is available at the Living the Solution online store.