Where the Waves Turn Back - by Tyson Motsenbocker

About the Book

"After years on the road performing at sold-out venues alongside platinum-selling and Grammy-winning Christian artists, Tyson Motsenbocker returned home to the impending death of his 57-year-old hero and mother. He begged God to heal her, but she died anyway. When they buried her body, Tyson also buried the childhood version of his faith. Weeks before her death, however, Motsenbocker discovered the story of 18th-century Spanish monk St. Junipero Serra who dedicated his life to the idea that tragedy and suffering are portals to renewal. He discovered Serra's "El Camino Real," a 600-mile pilgrimage route down the California coast that had been largely forgotten for more than 200 years. In desperation, Motsenbocker sets out to retrace the Saint's steps along the freeways and underpasses, littered beaches and multi-million-dollar coastal estates. During the next 40 days, Motsenbocker sinks below the comfortable surface of society he has always known, enduring excruciating pain, dodging addicts and roaring traffic, stepping over rats, and befriending retired veterans. His pilgrimage up the Western shore of America connects him to a lost mystic who often seems to hover just above as he grieves the loss of his mother and the insolubility of the kind of God he once comfortably trusted. Where the Waves Turn Back is a literary journey for the wanderer, doubter, adventurer, skeptic, mystic and seeker in all of us. Worn-out and weary travelers of all ages will be invited, along with Motsenbocker, to renegotiate their place in a world that's irrevocably changed. Readers will be captivated by the depth of Motsenbocker's honesty and vulnerability, enchanted by his lyrical prose, and inspired by his hard-fought healing. But more than this, they will discover portals to their own spiritual wonderings-the kinds that require leaving behind the worlds we once loved and loving the worlds in which we live"--

Book Synopsis

In this powerful memoir, following the death of his mother, Tyson Motsenbocker retraces the journey an 18th century priest took in this harrowing story of one man's pilgrimage of healing and finding beauty and hope in tragedy.

After years on the road performing at sold-out venues, Tyson Motsenbocker returned home to the impending death of his 57-year-old hero and mother. He begged God to heal her, but she died anyway. When they buried her body, Tyson also buried the childhood version of his faith.

Shortly before her death, however, Tyson became intrigued by the complicated legacy of Father Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan monk and canonized saint who dedicated his life to the idea that tragedy and suffering are portals to renewal. Father Serra built Missions up and down the California coast, spreading Christianity, as well as enabling and aiding in the oppression and colonization of the native Californians. Tyson discovered Serra's "El Camino Real," a 600-mile pilgrimage route up the California coast that had been largely forgotten for more than 200 years.

Two days after they buried his mother, Tyson set out on a pilgrimage of sorts, intending to walk from San Diego to San Francisco along the El Camino, following in the footsteps of the saint. Tyson's journey takes him down smog-choked highways, across fog-laden beaches, past multi-million-dollar coastal estates, and along the towering cliffs of Big Sur. And as he walks, Tyson also wrestles with his faith, questioning the pat answers and easy prayers he once readily accepted, trying to understand how hope and tragedy can all be wrapped up in the same God. The people he meets along the way challenge his understanding of the meaning of security, of what it means to live a meaningful life, and of the legacies we all leave behind.

Where the Waves Turn Back is both part journal and part spiritual memoir, and ultimately, a thrilling and deeply satisfying read that asks questions that will resonate with readers seeking meaning in an utterly disorienting age.

About the Author

Tyson Motsenbocker is a critically acclaimed singer- songwriter and composer from the Pacific Northwest. His audience has come to know him as a brilliant lyricist, unflinchingly honest and an artist who embraces vulnerability above all. After relocating to Southern California, Motsenbocker's first album Letters to Lost Loves was praised internationally, including Best New Music and Songs We Love by NPR. Tyson's 2020 release Someday I'll Make it All Up to You was ranked as UTR's best album of 2020. In the following years, Motsenbocker played for hundreds of thousands of people at famous and historic rooms, including Los Angeles' Wilturn Theatre, San Francisco's Filmore and Nashville's Ryman Auditorium three times. Tyson's recorded music has received millions of streams and has continued to garner high praise from music business tastemakers. This is his first book.