Journey Book

The author, whose prose and poetry guided the Ribbon around the Pentagon in 1985, here shares her spiritual journey with readers. The remarkable Ribbon event which embraced ten miles of metropolitan Washington, DC, with 27,000 hand-crafted symbols from many nations on the 40th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is no more amazing than her soulâ??s journey from atheism to Roman Catholicism. "Journey" begins with a poem written in 1973; it is essentially a suicide note written out of her existential despair. The poem â??Jobâ? is one of the first written in Chicago after her 1975 experience of metanoia, a returning to her Christian roots. The collection then traces her move to Denver, her trip to Japan and Africa. Amid the poems that trace her path to peacework are the others: a short, powerful one written in response to nativity sets sold in Woolworths, â??Christchildâ?; her reaction to â??The Poorâ?, her concerns within â??ordinary timeâ? as well as her reactions to the liturgical year. The perceptive reader will see the collection as a tightly woven tapestry as the themes of peace, justice and the repeated question â??who are the prisoners?â? weave in and out of her expressions of faith. But the weaving also includes humorous asides. Those who know Justine are keenly aware of her wit and laughter, so this collection, which might otherwise be an unremitting â??Good Fridayâ? for readers, also touches the joy and hope of our Easters. With humor, wisdom, insight she takes the reader along the road of wonder and of compassion. Her many fiends within the peace movement and in other religious tradition, will be fascinated to follow her soulâ??s journey from despair to hope. Born in the Midwest, Justine Merritt's journey has held a variety of life styles: suburban wife and mother, member of a commune, salad and pastry cook in a Chicago restaurant and, always, a teacher and a poet. Even on a trek through 15 African nations, she wrote poetry. In 1982 per peace poems were part of the remarkable grassroots endeavor that resulted in 15 miles of The Ribbon embracing the Pentagon, the White House and the Capital on August 4, 1985. Since then, she has been a Resident of the Institute for Cultural and Ecumenical Research in Collegeville, MN, traveled extensively and now resides in Grand Junction, CO.Read More