Reviews
One With the One
How Suffering Taught That We Are Eternal And Are Loved
Emily Jean Entwistle
Book Review
A woman tells of learning how to heal and move forward after a brief trip to the afterlife in Entwistle’s debut memoir.
“This is not a story of ‘woman who triumphs over adversity,’ ” declares the author late in this remembrance, but her account is indeed marked by periods of trauma. She tells of enduring unspeakable abuse by her adoptive parents and then burying her memories of it deep inside herself in order to survive. As an adult, she got married and had a successful career, but she says that the repressed recollections began to wreak havoc on her physical health; she notes that “even thinking about such things led to the anxious feeling I might lose control, and to lose control was to lose all I had worked for.” She later suffered a massive stroke; at this time, Entwistle writes, she died and had a profound experience of feeling one with “the Source”: “There was a pause in time,” she explains, “and as if in the space between the in-breath and the out-breath, I left my body.” She survived and decided to change her life, beginning a “progression from dis-ease to wellness.” From here, the author outlines events that led to her present state of spiritual awareness and presents tools for readers to begin a similar journey. Entwistle effectively addresses the reader directly in a conversational tone, as in a description of a visualization technique: “Do you think you could try this, too? Here are guidelines I can offer: Begin by asking yourself, ‘What do I desire more than anything else?’ ” As she enthusiastically offers guidance, she’s also careful not to alienate readers who may be skeptical by acknowledging, for instance, that altering one’s mindset does not come easily: “I’m not saying that it isn’t hard work to change one’s beliefs, to ignore the input of the senses, and the plans one’s logical mind might suggest.” That said, even readers who don’t find Entwistle’s methods applicable to their own lives will find the book engaging.
An often compelling spiritual remembrance strengthened by the author’s understanding that not everyone’s quest looks
the same.