Anne Rice: 'Called Out Of Darkness'

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"The story has a happy ending because I have found the Transcendent God both intellectually and emotionally." Anne Rice

Something prodded me to buy Anne Rice's memoir, 'Called Out of Darkness: A spiritual confession.' So, I did. It has been my experience, that when I ignore those proddings -I lose out big time!

I marched into the store and as soon as I had the book in my hands, I fell into the nearest chair and began reading. An overwhelming feeling of joy washed over me...In fact, I felt so happy I began to cry, right there in Barnes and Nobles.

As I think about that moment, I remember feeling an immense sense of gratitude to Anne and to God. To Anne for her humbling honesty and her openness to the guiding grace of the Holy Spirit...To God for creating such a beautifully gifted human being, with a brilliantly pulsating heart.

Here she was-this enormously popular and successful secular author, hearing a call from God...and risking everything, to answer it. Here was the vampire lady from New Orleans, speaking and writing about Jesus and Mary, the Saints and her sins. Now that was a story!

You see for me, there is nothing more thrilling than a conversion story. There is nothing more mysteriously exciting than the awakening of a soul to the universal Love of God. That pivotal point when a person accepts that God exists and we exist because of his Love.

When Anne Rice made a decision of the heart to let faith in, to Love God, through the Catholic Church of her childhood, the heavens clearly heralded her return. Another lost lamb, returns to the fold and then turns her enormous talent into something wonderfully otherworldly for the rest of us to enjoy.

I was never drawn to the vampires, but I have always been drawn to Anne Rice. I have always felt a strange sense of something special stirring within her...and that it would only be a matter of time...

I am so happy for her...and so grateful that she has sacrificed her privacy, to give others the enormous gift of her spiritual wisdom and her childlike faith. I am so excited that she feels the power of God's transformative Love and the joy that it brings, even under the most challenging circumstances.

There is nothing better than a Love story...But a Love story between Jesus Christ and Anne Rice...Now that, in my not so humble opinion, is a story of biblical proportions...and will hopefully, become the subject of a great motion picture!

Anne Rice has given me wonderful joy and a renewal of hope...And as I see it, that is a rare gift and the purpose of the rest of her story.

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