When this book was first published in the late 80s in America it became a publishing phenomenon. Its popularity has hardly diminished over the intervening years.

Dr. M. Scott Peck, a best-selling author, worked throughout his lifetime as a psychotherapist, a Medical Director, and a psychiatrist in private practice in Milford, Connecticut, USA.

The Road Less Travelled is a very approachable book about the often lonely road of spiritual growth. Although not directly dealing with spiritual healing, Peck deals with spiritual issues and the spiritual growth experiences with which we are all presented in our lifetimes. Peck rightly identifies that confronting and solving problems areare painful processes which many of us try to avoid. Peck suggests ways of facing our difficulties and accepting the suffering inherent in the process of change in order to reach a higher level of self-awareness and understanding. This is, in effect, the process of spiritual growth, a long journey of self- discovery requiring personal honesty and courage. This is a healing journey required of all on this planet.

The book begins with a detailed examination of our problems and pain. Here Peck examines the concept of Discipline by which he means a series of tools which help the individual to face the pain of problem-solving and so achieve spiritual growth. The tools he says are: delaying gratification or satisfying our present comforts for a future gain; accepting responsibility for our problems, our actions and decisions; the need for being open to challenges; the need for a balancing of our energies or learning to handle conflict; and the healthiness of depression. He asserts that: ‘Life is difficult.’ But that we must accept this great truth in order to transcend it. ‘Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.’

In the second part, Peck examines various aspects of love which he sees as the driving force behind spiritual growth. He examines falling in love; the myth of romantic love; self-sacrifice; the risk of commitment; the discipline of love; and the mystery of love. In the third part of The Road Less Travelled, Peck looks at world views and religion. He asks: ‘How do people’s religions or belief systems develop? What determines a person’s particular world view? And how do these views affect our personal growth? Through a process of the examination and expansion of our self–knowledge, Peck states that we can journey out of a microcosm of limited beliefs imposed by family, culture and organised religion into a macrocosm of understanding.

However, it is in the fourth part of the book, entitled ‘Grace’, that the more overtly spiritual themes emerge. Peck comes to the belief that there is ‘a single force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings.’ For Peck, this is ‘Grace’ is recognisable in the miracle of health, the unconscious and serendipity. Understanding Grace and how it operates in our lives is our spiritual journey, a lonely and often difficult road, requiring courage, initiative and independence of thought and action. Truly, this journey is a Road Less Travelled but a necessary road for the spiritual evolution of humanity. Thanks to Peck, we can journey along this road with greater insight, understanding and vision.