THE BOOK
We long to hear the gentle whisper of the Divine above the noise of the world. We seek it in sunsets, silence, art, and prayer.
Drawing on his record-breaking 501-day stay in Antarctica, and the deep experiences of awe and silence he found there, Avery connects the teachings of history’s wisest theologians with the science of silence, awe, and meaning to reveal a personal Divine.
Avery’s explanations of meaning as the primary force in our lives — driving our pursuit of the highest truth, goodness, and beauty, regardless of our beliefs — are compelling.
He follows these with examples of how, in moments of awe and silence, the veil of our material world can part, revealing for us what many call an experience of the Divine — God in our Western traditions.
Framed by questions from his friend, Avery goes on to address some of life’s biggest questions:
- Why are there different religions?
- What is the soul?
- Why do people not believe?
- Could AI become human?
- Why do we suffer?
- What is happiness?
The book’s journey concludes on the Camino de Santiago — perhaps the world’s greatest pilgrimage — where Avery presents the Camino as a metaphor for life: a journey of hardship, effort and community that leads us upwards to the transcendent we are all programmed to pursue, the meaning of the Camino’s call to action “Ultreia et Suseia”.