AN INVITATION TO “OPEN YOUR EYES AND LET LIFE IN”
In her inspired and inspiring new book of photography and personal reflection, Open Your Eyes and Let Life In, Mary Abide Richardson has captured a powerful visual portrait of her own spiritual enlightenment. Does God Exist? “Yes!” Richardson’s astonishing, luminous photographs and story of redemption emphatically insist.
In June 2000, the author had come as close to dying a physical death as a person could. She had hurt the ones who loved her, and she had become a slave to addiction, to drugs. Rehab was only the beginning. Richardson learned to forgive herself, which was the hardest thing to do, and she made amends with her family. It wasn’t easy, but with God, she was able to change and make a new start.
It would have been a somewhat typical story of a fall and a rise, but then one day…something extraordinary happened: Richardson literally saw the light. When her family moved from New Orleans, she suddenly developed a passion for looking skyward and for capturing the ever-changing cloudscapes with her camera. Remarkably, through her pictures of the heavens, she discovered the visual equivalent of her own affirmation.
In Open Your Eyes and Let Life In, Richardson movingly documents her tumultuous yet uplifting journey: los- ing herself to addiction; working through the rigors of rehabilitation; finding herself again through God; and finally and perhaps most unforgettably, seeing through the lenses of her camera, an unprecedented and undeniably moving vision of the spiritual realm. No matter what religion fills your heart, Richardson’s story will inspire you to seek God and to grow spiritually.
About the author
Born in New Orleans in 1955, Mary is the third of ten children, married with two daughters. After her tumultuous yet uplifting journey through addiction and rehab, Mary saw through her camera an unprecedented and undeniably moving vision of the spiritual realm which she shares with us.
“I have been asked by people who know me, ‘Do you really want to tell people your story and what you have done?’ My answer is yes. If I can help one person wake up and become aware of God’s presence in their life, then it has all been worth it. Within the confines of this book appear photographs that have never been shared with the world.
I believe they are proof of God’s existence and a gift to us all.” – Mary
Open Your Eyes and Let Life In, By Mary Abide Richardson
Publication Date: November 4, 2011
Hardcover; $24.95; 64 pages; 978-0-615-51862-6
Available on Amazon, Kindle and iTunes
