Illusions : the adventures of a reluctant Messiah

In the cloud-washed airspace between the cornfields of Illinois and blue infinity, a man puts his faith in the propeller of his biplane. For disillusioned writer and itinerant barnstormer Richard Bach, belief is as real as a full tank of gas and sparks firing in the cylinders...until he meets Donald Shimoda--former mechanic and self-described messiah who can make wrenches fly and Richard's imagination soar.... In Illusions, the unforgettable follow-up to his phenomenal bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings: that people don't need airplanes to soar...that even the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them... and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places--like hay fields, one-traffic-light midwestern towns, and most of all, deep within ourselves. Wonderfully written, a glimpse into faith, self-reliance and friendship, witty and thought provoking. Barnstorming pilot meets a messianic man who has misgivings about his purpose. His scripture is captured in a greasy spiral bound notebook and he changes the lives of all he meets. "There was a master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne ... and he smiled upon the multitudes and said pleasantly unto them, 'I quit.'" A Midwest barnstormer/writer befriends a fellow flyer, an unusual sort of man who turns out to be a messiah, or, rather, a master of illusions 1. There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne.