Pastoral Institute’s Muse tells enchanted tale in latest book

A fairy tale is a little different from the material the Rev. Stephen Muse usually writes.

Most of his books are academic with titles such as “The Effect of Religious Integration on Therapist Capacity for Empathy Among Christian Candidates From Several Masters Programs” and “Raising Lazarus: Integral Healing in Orthodox Christianity.”

The 62-year-old Muse has contributed chapters in numerous other books and is author of some 60 articles and book reviews for various professional and trade magazines. He also does a religious blog at http://orthodoxcolumbus.org/blog/.

“This is definitely something a little different,” he said about “The Peddler and the Disenchanted Mirror,” which is now available in hardback and paperback and on Kindle and Amazon.com.

And it is something he enjoyed writing.

So much so, that Muse has a similar book, “Be Yourself: Amim’s Great Discovery,” which will be published soon.

There will also be a more traditional Muse work coming out in the near future, “Treasure In Earthen Vessels: Prayer in the Embodied Life.”

Muse’s work has been translated into Russian, Greek, Swedish and Serbian.

This book, published by Edition Parrisia of Athens, Greece, is available in a bilingual edition with the story printed in both English and Greek.

The illustrations are by Dimitra Psichogiou, whom the author calls one of her country’s “foremost illustrators.”

In the book’s biographical sketch of Psichogiou, the art teacher says, “Each one of us has a special way to express his feelings about the things he loves and my way is fairy tales.”

The busy and prolific Muse is director of education and counselor training at the Pastoral Institute in Columbus, where he directs Clergy-in-Kairos, a weeklong out-patient and wellness program for clergy and their spouses.

The former Presbyterian pastor is also founder of the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Columbus, where he serves as a deacon.

And while in years past he created stories to tell his children, this Christian parable is for adults.

Muse said a fictional story or cartoon often can be more revealing than a nonfiction work.

“Both have their place,” he said.

This is a story of repentance and love, and of struggles of the heart.

It tells of a woman in search of her perfect image. One day at a dusty flea market, she finds an unusual mirror that the peddler calls “absolutely unique,” which she tries to purchase to add to her collection. The peddler tells her she can have it “for nothing or for everything,” and she must discover what that means. Her struggle with the mirror, the peddler and herself changes her forever.

The preface by Muse begins with the Talmudic saying, “We don’t see the world as it is but as we are.”

Muse says the buyer of the book should be aware that it is an enchanted fairy tale and once read it will not ever be forgotten.

“You may find yourself in the same position as the woman, with something awakening that will not easily go back to sleep, setting you in search of what she finds,” he writes in the book. “I wish this for all who dare to read it.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Pastoral Institute’s Muse tells enchanted tale in latest book."