Search for answers leads to 'Glass Houses' - Mary White launches devotional book

As a devout Christian, journalist and toastmaster, Mary White could not understand why she could not get in touch with God like other Christians were doing. So she started on a mission to find the answer.

That search ended in White putting together a collection of real-life inspirational stories, which are contained in her debut publication, Glass Houses, published by Pelican Publishers.

White launched Glass Houses at a church service in St Ann's Bay on Sunday, the first stop on her book tour and signing. The launch featured several readings from the book by church members, friends and a family member of the author, and also a testimonial by Noel Burgess.

In her own testimonial, White broke down and had to be comforted by her sister, Debita White.

She drew commendation from several persons at the launch, including High Commissioner to London Pastor George Ramocan.

"I was trying to find why God wasn't talking to me but talking to everybody else," White told The Gleaner.

"I got jealous when people were telling me stories that 'God told me so', 'God did this', and I am thinking, I'm a devout Christian as well, but I'm not getting any of the answers like they were.

"And so, I started a search to find out exactly what they were doing. I realise that the stories they were telling me were not much different from my story. It was how I was looking at my story, it was the perspective that made all the difference."

White said that after gathering many stories over a period of several months, it was only fitting to put them in a book.

"God led me to put them in a devotional that was different, where the concept was different. I decided that if I needed these stories, then other people must need them."

She was elated to add 'author' to her portfolio but admitted that at one point, she felt as if it wasn't going to come to fruition.

"The struggles became real when I decided to make it into a tool to share with other people, so I am very elated to finish it and to get the support of my brethren from Church of God International Jamaica. We believe we have a mission of taking the gospel out to the world."

Meanwhile, Melissa Witter of Pelican Publishers, who was also in attendance and did a reading, said the decision to publish Glass Houses wasn't a difficult one.

"We live in a society where every day, our values are becoming more and more degenerated, and a book such as Glass Houses is absolutely necessary," she told The Gleaner.

"It's a call to the nation to get back to our roots, to get back to being in touch with our Creator. The stories are real and relatable. At the end of the day, they point us to the source of all that is good. We find that when persons reach out to God there is a change in their lives, so a book which is promoting godliness is definitely something that we endorse and we're very, very happy to embrace."