This powerful exploration of spiritual longing is the story of two parallel journeys. One is the author's account of his five-day riverboat trip up the Amazon and his discovery of the tiny Church of the Poor Devil, whose members revealed a spiritual wealth in the midst of abject poverty.

The other is Dunne's own spiritual quest and his "passing over" from a personal religion concerned with the satisfaction of his individual needs to the religion of the poor. In sharing the life of the church's people and their transcendence of the misery of their human condition, Dunne experiences a greater awareness of the human essence, which redirects his relation of material needs and brings him to a "oneness" with humanity and himself. The story of this journey becomes a compelling metaphor for Christianity.

At a religious festival, Dunne witnesses the people's rejoicing in a simplicity that encourages them to follow the heart's desire for God. An awareness of God's presence frees them from the complex, material concerns that so soften beget despair. By acknowledging the truth of human misery and the heart's desire, Dunne believes we too can walk vertically through a horizontal world governed by materialism and misunderstanding, and thus, find our place at the intersection of time and eternity.