"Now do you sort of understand what is going on? I am trying to take you with me to the tormented place I have always gone alone. It may feel like a form of madness, but isn't it absolutely exquisite? "

— from the Intermission

Advent, the season of waiting, is the perfect time to pick up Barbara Ritter Garrison's "The Waiting Place."

But unlike the joyous anticipation of Advent, the "waiting" in this modem-day mystical tome refers. to a time -of difficult soul searching and intense questing for truth.

The author takes her readers into an imaginary room-the Waiting Place--where - she cannot escape until she answers the riddle: What is life? "There is one question around which we write, compose, paint, sculpt, ponder, and try to live: What is life-all life, this life? Is death the end or will there be something more?" Ritter asks in the Intermission of her book.

While trying to answer that question, the author realizes she must come to terms with her family of origin and face her own failings, fears and missed opportunities.

She speaks with people from her past and present: her innocent, trusting sister; her greedy grandfather whom she grows to hate; her self-sacrificing mother; her strong and determined grandmother; and her own children, who have suffered pain because of her own weaknesses. .

She also remembers herself at different stages throughout her life: the selfish youngster hoarding her Christmas present, the teen who retreated into her inner, pretend world to avoid rejection :and the young mother trying to teach her children a lesson with the failed "Parable of the Onion Rings. "

She remembers stories from her own childhood and reflects on those events-great and small-that have shaped her life.

In succinct, readable chapters Garrison grapples with issues that everyone can relate to: pain, hate, anger, sorrow.

While traveling down this "path to holiness," she learns forgiveness, eschews materialism, lets go of anger and, finally, solves the riddle.

Ritter, a Chicago resident and author of "Precious Jewel Person" (ACTA Publications, 1990), is . known for her readable, down-to-earth yet mystical style.

In "Waiting Place," she delivers another example that mystical writing need not be ancient or inaccessible. During Advent-or any season-it's a worthwhile read.

Reviewed by:
Heidi Schlumpf Kezmoh
Staff Writer
The New World