Night’s Bright Darkness:
A modern conversion story

Sally Read tells a story of breath-taking beauty. She was a poet, a radical feminist and had no time for any religion.  Her writings and lifestyle conformed to her beliefs at that time. Her work as a nurse in London, exposed her to human pain that cried out to be healed. However, the death of her father, who was her rock, set her on a downward spiral that left her shattered, empty and completely adrift. In her darkest hour she took shelter in a small Carmelite Church. As she sat there with her face in her hands, she cried out “If you are there, you have to help me”! To her utter amazement, that prayer from the heart received a prompt response which she vividly describes. Suffice it to say that; Jesus was for her no longer a figure in history, but a loving presence who had come to her rescue when she was most in need. This encounter changed her life. Her search for “the beloved” led her to find out more about the Catholic Church. As she spoke with a kind and caring priest, she was conscious of that same presence which had rescued her from her personal “hell”. Her prejudices and misconceptions melted away, and she was received into the Catholic Church. She could feel all the guilt and sins of her life being physically lifted off her shoulders when she first received the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

This book is written with style, passion and stunning honesty.  Sally was all too aware of the scandals and storms raging against the Catholic Church. But she had come to understand that the sins of others, no matter who they are, should not distract us from the profound love story which is meant to unfold between each person and the God of Unfathomable Love. Like Elijah of old, she had learnt that God was not to be found in the whirlwind but in “the still small voice”. But I will leave the last word to this gifted author:

“I had stepped out of chaos… and found the still point in which I could sit quietly and receive the kiss of my Creator”.