Arturo Paoli, a member of the Congregation of the Little Brothers of the Gospel of Charles de Foucauld, lived as a contemplative in action in a small settlement in the west of Venezuela. He shared his valleyside cabin with Pedro, an unchurched 20 year old who feels an attraction to the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. These meditations and reflections are addressed to Pedro, who stimulates them by asking religious questions. Paoli tries to answer in depth, but in a way that will be meaningful to a young person of narrow secular horizons. The major thrust of the author's thought is communion-building and its major obstacles. Other elements of Christian life touched on in these conversations (conversion, reconciliation, hope, prayer,contemplation, prophecy, love) are viewed in relation to building a community of brothers and sisters-what the church is all about, what the church is, or is to become.