Dialogues with Jay

Five people, representing three generations, meet to share some of their deepest thoughts. Luc and Don get together after thirty years, with their one-time mentor, Jay, and are later joined by Luc's daughter and her friend Ian.

Their dialogues, patterned roughly after Plato, start with Jay asking if death is just the end of life, or if there is more. Does science have an answer? Is there a soul or spirit, a reality that transcends the reality of our scientific universe of space and time? Or is an existence beyond this world and life just the indulgence of imaginative conjecture? Through the conversations of these friends, the dialogues provide an affirmation of life, of what it means to be a person, and of an afterlife beyond the boundaries of space and time.

The book's intent is to stimulate thoughtful reflection and discussion, while not advocating for any particular philosophical or religious position.

""Don, as a masterful theologian and storyteller, invites us in six brief segments to eavesdrop on the difficult conversations that we all have about life, meaning, and afterlife. An excellent resource for small groups to sit in their own circle and share.""
--Deborah G. Brincivalli, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of West Jersey, Haddon Heights, New Jersey

""In his short, moving meditation Dialogues with Jay, Don Fletcher gently directs our gaze beyond the boundary of the known, pointing to an image of life and the God beyond all life grounded in the power of love. It is a warm and thoughtful pastoral reflection, to be shared in dialogue with family and friends.""
--Lewis John Eron, Rabbi Emeritus, Lions Gate CCRC, Voorhees, New Jersey

""This work keeps you thinking while evoking your own inner experiences, questioning how your beliefs were formed, and what the future holds."" 
--Rebecca Rosenau, Associate Director of Senior Services, Director of Advocacy & Senior Services Outreach, Samost Jewish Family & Children's Service of Southern New Jersey

Now in his late nineties, Donald R. Fletcher continues to write, publishing seven books since 2003. Born in 1919, he grew up in Korea, is the son of Presbyterian medical missionaries, earned degrees at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, and served the Presbyterian Church in Chile, the Caribbean, and at headquarters. He also taught at high school, college, and university levels in New Jersey, Alabama, and Texas. In 2007 he moved to Lions Gate, a continuing care retirement community, with his wife, Martha, caring for her until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2014, an event reflected in this book.