Emil Mihelich

The Serpent of Eden Emil Mihelich

Jim and Carol Halston, graduates of Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, and now living in Tacoma, are experiencing a psychological crisis at the age of forty. Their orthodox, Presbyterian faith, supported by hymn singing and the architectural majesty of Tacoma's First Presbyterian Church, no longer appears reasonable. It no longer carries with it the weight of truth. At the same time, neither Jim nor Carol wants to live without a sustainable faith that can carry the weight of truth in the late twentieth century and beyond. They are willing to explore the psychological dimension of life in search of such truth, but they realize they need a guide who has walked that path and thus can show them the way. From a work colleague Jim learns of a Dr. Kelley who runs a psychological practice out of his home in Seattle. Not wanting to be labeled as either a psychologist or a psychiatrist, Dr. Kelley has earned a reputation as being "a comforter of noble hearts." He has settled in Seattle by way of Butte, Montana, where, as a member of the Irish Christian Brother, he taught English at Boys' Central High School. Finding himself at odds with the post-Vatican II Church and after being transferred to Seattle's O'Dea High School, Brother Kelley decides he must leave his religious order. As Dr. Kelley he welcomes noble hearts in need of comfort. Jim and Carol Halston, being authentic believers, meet that criteria and are eager to journey to Seattle to begin their quest to discover a believable understanding of the faith that now appears to have failed them. Having grown out of the faith that once sustained them, they are searching for a belief they can grow into. Also, they are parents of three children for whom Presbyterian hymn singing now lacks the majesty associated with their contemporary rock music. Dr. Kelley's understanding of Christianity takes Jim and Carol beyond any Catholic and Presbyterian boundaries to the discovery of the previously obscured essence of Christianity. Jim and Carol find this indestructible essence in the Serpent of Eden as well as in Dr. Kelley himself. He proves to be a living expression of the serpent power he describes. Following several sessions with Dr. Kelley, Jim and Carol discover this same power living within themselves and are now ready to meet the scientific and experiential challenges to their necessary faith. They are ready to live as incarnations of the Serpent of Eden.