She’s a writer, a pilgrim, and an old soul whose wisdom and faith guides her life
By Steven L. Denlinger
“I’ve always been a writer,” Catherine Johnson says in our podcast.
But what took her writing to another level — and led to the publication of her book, as Julie Goetz Morser reports in her article published in in the Vashon Beachcomber, “Island author pens moving memoir” — was a tragic moment in her teen years, the moment she was involved in the death of her close friend.
Johnson’s memoir is called Finding Mercy in this World.
It came out of years of struggling through the miasma of guilt and grief that haunted her for years. She eventually started working on a memoir, set it aside, went on a pilgrimage in Spain, eventually returned to her childhood faith — and ultimately published her memoir, which in 2018 was named a gold winner in the annual Sarton Women’s Book Awards.
It took Johnson 30 years before she could talk about the incident that caused her so much pain and skewed the direction of her life. But her honesty, her willingness to write the truth about what really happened eventually led to spiritual healing, transforming her life.
“Forgiveness is a very healing thing to receive,” Johnson says. “It brings a kind of closure to an experience where there’s been pain or suffering, Mercy is more of a doorway — it’s just beyond forgiveness.”
I found this interview powerful, and we hope you do too.
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