The Ship of Dreams tells of Fr. John, an elder of Valamo Monastery in Finland, whose letters have become familiar to many people and have been translated into several languages. We find him to be a broad-minded, tolerant person who moves about silently on light summer nights and whose journey through life has taken him through phases of doubt, depression and temptation towards a state of freedom, humility and love.

Fr. John is a Russian monk and man of the people who has a clear and unemotional understanding of those caught in the crossfire of sanctity and crudity both in monasteries and in the outside world. His teachings on "the one thing that is essential" pose a challenge to all forms of religious pedantry and cold adherence to the letter of the law.