A dream about death saturates Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew with mystical silence. But when the silence leaves, she flounders through Christian contemplative prayer practices, wrangling with antiquated language and hard-to-stomach theology. Much to her surprise, she finds the essence of silence in the concept of mercy. Here is a literary rendering of one seeker's winding path into the great womb of creation.

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is the author of Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Memoir of Bisexuality & Spirit, now in its second edition; the novel Hannah, Delivered; a collection of personal essays, On the Threshold: Home, Hardwood, and Holiness; and three books on writing: Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir; Living Revision: A Writer's Craft as Spiritual Practice; and The Release: Finding Creativity and Freedom After the Writing is Done. She is a founding member of The Eye of the Heart Center, where she teaches writing as a transformational practice. She is a recipient of two Minnesota State Arts Board artists' fellowships, The Loft Career Initiative Grant, and is a Minnesota Book Awards finalist.