A Journey To Hell and Back
Charlotte Russell Johnson (Guest Reviewer - James McTyre)
2002 TEC Publications
ISBN: 193152713X Amazon's price is: $14.95
Written with Shay Youngblood, a gripping saga of a young woman's journey from adolescence to adulthood at an accelerated pace.
A Journey To Hell & Back is an exploration of a troubled teen's journey into the underworld to emerge as an independent, confident, & self-assured woman. Pitfalls, tragedy, & trials that lure a young honor student into the mean streets of Atlanta & finally, New York mark the story.
Her journey to hell led her through a fiery furnace that burned 70% of her body with 2nd & 3rd degree burns, & an over three months hospital stay where God provided personal consolation & healing. After God miraculously saved her from a life in the streets heaped with sin, her zeal for God resulted in her making additional mistakes, including renewing the abusive relationship that had almost cost her life.
Guest Reviewer James McTyre writes:
Charlotte Russell Johnson shares her story in a way that was simultaneously provocative & reaffirming! She carries her readers on a well-orchestrated journey with many interweaves of truisms that concern this earthly existence. It is difficult to imagine a person's ability to come away from A Journey to Hell and Back without asking the existential question -- “What is the meaning of Life?” Surely, Ms. Johnson caused this reader to reexamine the question, & to reckon with the power of the human will to survive. However, Ms. Johnson moved a step beyond survival. Ms. Johnson has PREVAILED -- beyond her overwhelming yearn for acceptance that this reader sensed throughout her story.
Charlotte Russell Johnson's story was like a nightmare. It reminds this reader of a child's sudden awakening from a nightmare, & the child finds that his mother is there, saying all those soothing things, like “it is going to be okay, I am here, hold my hand.” & when Ms. Johnson awoke from her nightmare, she found God there, & realized that He was there all the time. He was reassuring to her that she would be okay & that she is His child, & thereby, meeting the greatest acceptance of all.
Yes, Charlotte Johnson has been to hell -- more importantly, she came back. Just as the great Shirley Caesar frequently says, “if there is a way in, then there is a way out.” If you are not sure, just think about Calvary.
(11/24/02)
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