FROM FEAR TO FAITH
Norma Woodcock
Vanguard Press
From the author:
As the title of my book, From Fear To Faith, suggests, I was a deeply fearful person due to the exceptional circumstances that affected my life adversely. My journey has been a powerful witness to the fact that faith can overcome fear in an ongoing and ever deeper way and that prayer, meditative and contemplative can increase that faith.
As Archbishop Barry Hickey says in the Foreword of my book, ‘It is essential that God’s action begins in our weakness, our helplessness or in our pain. It is from these depths, from our “de profundis”, that we cry out for help. That cry and the way it was answered so beautifully in Norma’s life is here for all to contemplate and find the courage to begin their own journey.’
Reviews:
From fear to faith: a story of abandonment, hope and healing by Norma Woodcock. The Centre for Catholic Spiritual Development & Prayer, 2010 pb 106p $24.95
This is a book about prayer. A quotation from St. Teresa of Avila appears at the beginning of each chapter. It is more powerful than an academic book because it is the honest account of Norma Woodcock’s own spiritual journey. She was born in India. Even though she was abused and tortured as a little child she had a real sense of God’s presence with her from an early age. The family migrated to Australia when she was five and there Norma faced prejudice, fear and loneliness. As an adult she sought happiness in marriage, but even in this she found hurt and abandonment at a time of great need.
From her weakness, her helplessness and pain she cried to God and He used her in a remarkable way to listen to others and teach them about prayer. On one occasion she was in hospital grieving and feeling guilty but she was still able to write a poem that resulted in changing a depressed women’s life. Throughout the book Norma is weighed down by her fears and her physical and family problems, yet at the same time she has a great sense of the ministry of helping others in talks, articles, CDs and private sessions in one-on-one spiritual direction.
For some periods in her life her prayer times gave her great joy and at other times she had to persevere in prayer even though she was feeling dry. The author has held workshops and produced CDs on Imaginative Meditations on Gospel Scenes. This book gives hope to those who are struggling either in their prayer life or with family and other problems that they can be healed and go from fear to faith. JB, ACLA
Norma Woodcock came to Australia from India before her fifth birthday. From Fear to Faith is her autobiography.
The family had a privileged life in India and the new life in Australia was far from easy – especially for little Norma. As an infant in India Norma had been abused and she emerged from this trauma damaged and unable to trust. So, for her, life in a new culture was particularly difficult.
The book details Norma’s faith journey as a convert to Catholicism. For me, the main benefit of the book is that I learned more of the contemplative and meditative prayer disciplines in the tradition of St. Teresa of Avila. This is different from anything I have experienced before but I recognise its very valuable qualities.
The book had a little too much personal information for my liking. I know that James in his epistle said to confess our sins to one another but I personally feel that he did not mean to confess them to the world. DS
