Something Absolute – Surviving a Miracle

Ruth Jolly, for whom 'spiritual conviction co-exists with intellectual ambivalence' had in middle age almost stopped wrestling with questions of faith when ...On a bitter February day, Charlie, her student son, crashed in a light aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane hit the ground, expected to recover only bodies, but against all the odds, Charlie lived. Airlifted to hospital with horrific injuries, he continued to live. As his hold on life strengthened, Ruth kept a scruffy, bemused, emotionally-charged diary. It compelled her to ponder her comfortably vague ideas about Christianity. A few years on, the challenge was fading as 'Charlie's miracle' receded and the diary remained painfully unreadable. Then, in a cold February start to Lent, she picked up the diary and began to read it alongside the New Testament book of 'Acts'. To her utter astonishment, in the company of the earliest Christians she found a way to think clearly again: about survivors, about purpose, about faith and above all, about love. This is a book for anyone who, for whatever reason, is thinking or re-thinking their Christianity.

About the Author :
Ruth Jolly, whose previous writing has been in the field of sociology, is a working probation officer. She was, until 'Charlie's miracle', a reluctant Christian thinker.

Review :
This is a wonderfully written book. It will stay with the reader for a long time, both as an inspiring story of human beings coping with a world-changing event and as an introduction to one of the great books of the New Testament. Simon Small, Bestselling author of 'From the Bottom of the Pond.' A deeply forthright, deeply personal and brave book which will be humanly helpful to many people. Edward Hirsch, American poet and President of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. As a hospital chaplain one gets used to accompanying people in all sorts of tragic situations; but when you meet someone in an Emergency Department whom you know well, it's a different matter altogether. That is how I learned that Charlie had been involved in a terrible plane crash whilst on a flying lesson. Ruth takes you on an extraordinary journey of personal discovery using the diary she kept during the months that followed. The story is told with great honesty, sincerity and insight. You will never look at The Acts of the Apostles in the same way again, thanks to Ruth's skilful use of Lectio Divina as a tool for helping her make sense of what was happening to her and her family. She draws us into the theological, psychological and emotional issues involved in answering the question with which she begins the book, how do people ever manage to return to 'normal' after a miracle?A" You will find this book almost impossible to put down as you find yourself drawn into this vivid account of Charlie's miracle. Canon Nick Fennemore, Head of Chaplaincy and Bereavement Services, Portsmouth Hospitals. (Formerly of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford) This is a thoroughly enjoyable book and one that I would highly recommend. Ruth Jolly has managed to combine both high drama and survival with the very human emotions that we struggle to understand. This is about fighting to live; loving until it hurts; and hoping, sometimes, without hope. Her honesty is quite disarming but so refreshing - and that goes for her faith too. For those of us who aren't theologians, Ruth has helped unlock the Book of Acts. She's turned the characters, like St Paul, into people with whom we can both empathise and admire. By sharing her amazing story, she's brought this book of the Bible alive. But she's also written a beautiful love story - not just a mother's love for her son, but also a young woman's love for a severely injured man. Despite the uncertainty, the relationship that blossomed between Melissa and Charlie is quite incredible. Surviving a miracle isn't easy, but as 'Something Absolute' illustrates, it's life changing. And that to me is a miracle. Alex Forrest, Journalist and Broadcaster. (ITV News.)