When Mariette Ross began wearing glasses at the age of thirteen, the world around her came alive. She saw everything with a clearer, focused vision and received a new perspective on life.
As she entered her fifties, Ms Ross says she received a spiritual equivalent and came to know the love, beauty and wonderment of God – something she had never before experienced.
She has captured her experiences in a thought-provoking autobiography that she hopes will encourage others on their spiritual journey.
Ms Ross’ book, Facets, documents her life from a loving but materially impoverished childhood in India to her experiences as a migrant in Perth and the struggles of raising three children as a single parent.
It is a journey filled with joys and hardships, but ultimately it is a story of spiritual transformation from worldly independence to a total reliance on a loving, heavenly Father.
In an interview with the Perth Archdiocese Communications and Media Office journalist, Mark Reidy, Ms Ross said she had been motivated on several levels to record her life in prose.
“What really inspired me was the miracles I experienced which made me realise that there is a God who listens and answers prayers,” she said.
“I also believe that sharing my story – the challenges I faced as a young mother, then as a migrant, and later coping with broken dreams and ultimately a failed marriage – would resonate with many.”
Ms Ross first began the project in 2008, but soon abandoned it. However, in early 2013, when she was inspired through a devotional book, Ms Ross recommenced her writing and completed it in August 2014.
“I believe the book was entirely, absolutely and completely guided by God’s hand,” she said.
“I cannot attribute it to anything else. I have never been a writer and on my own I would never have come up with some of the themes I was prompted to write – Jesus’ character and personality is one of them.”
Detailing her early life in Nagpur, including the death of her father when she was six years old, Ms Ross takes the reader through her early childhood, somewhat rebellious adolescent years, as a young adult at university, and after, when she became caught up with a self-absorbed world of comfort and materialism.
She describes her marriage, the birth of her children, her migration to Australia and her struggles in a new country. She simultaneously exposes the emotional trauma behind her slowly disintegrating marriage, which ultimately failed, and her struggles with raising three young children on her own.
At this point Ms Ross begins to recognise the spiritual emptiness she carries within and realises that despite a half century of practising her Catholic faith, her interaction with God had been founded more on habit and ritual rather than on the loving relationship He desired.
It was only when she was led to the depth and richness of the Scriptures by a couple who came knocking on her door that her faith came alive. “Building a relationship of trust and faith in God through Jesus Christ replaced my fears and insecurities with serenity and strength,” she shared.
Reliving her life through Facets, Ms Ross acknowledges, was an emotional experience, especially the times when she celebrated her milestones without her father, but it has been rewarding and, she hopes, will benefit all who read it.
“I feel so proud to be able to share my story,” she said, “that God has used me to be of service to Him to spread news of His goodness and grace.”
Ms Ross is currently a parishioner of Sacred Heart Parish in Thornlie.
To obtain a copy of Facets, go to www.marietteross.com or www.xlibris.com.au