Standing at Lemhi Pass

Throughout time people have made sense of their lives by telling stories. Even the simplest story can connect us with eternal truths and places deep within ourselves from which we may navigate life’s greatest challenges. The human family has a long tradition – from the lyrical verse of the Homeric Greeks to the traveling bards of Ireland – in which the telling of stories drawn from history has been a way to pass down core values, gain perspective and meaning, and transform suffering into healing. Standing at Lemhi Pass, a phrase taken from a pivotal moment during Lewis and Clark’s early exploration of the American West, borrows lively stories from American history and applies them to times we are facing loss, grief or any of life’s profound challenges. In addition to working as a counselor to terminally ill patients and their loved ones, the author is a historian with an eye for deep, archetypal stories able to speak across cultures. In Standing at Lemhi Pass, stories and metaphors sparkle like stars in a night sky. Stars which can help us orient and find our way even in the darkest night.