Dry Spell

Author Catherine Burr opens the vault as she shares her personal essays of times of grief and sorrow, her near-death experience, and how she found faith again. 


“I quit believing without a doubt and started asking questions. You can’t do that in religion. You have to believe unconditionally. That’s what religion asks of us."



"Some say look at a river, flower, sunset or a mountain. I’ve looked in a river and I didn’t see God.”



"When you watch someone die, it changes you...”



From having atheist thoughts and questioning the existence of God, Catherine shares her most personal and intimate experiences as she questions her own faith from feeling let down by God and how her faith was restored as it almost cost her, her life. In these short essays, Catherine shares the sorrow and loss she felt when her father died, when her best friend died, and when she herself faced death and had a near-death experience. These never before shared, short stories are like peeking into someone’s journal of utmost internal thoughts, fears, exasperation, loss, and examination of whether prayers and belief in a higher being make a difference in our lives during dry spells of our lives when faith seems to fail.


“I quit believing without a doubt and started asking questions. You can’t do that in religion. You have to believe unconditionally. That’s what religion asks of us. It’s kind of like marriage, you have to believe and love unconditionally. That’s what children are like; you have to love them unconditionally. I add as a disclaimer that I think most parents, except for the bad ones, really do love their children unconditionally. Why wouldn’t you? Some would argue, just look at your children and you’ll see God. Just look at a river, flower or a sunset or a mountain top, yada yada yada. I’ve looked in a river and I didn’t see God.”


When Catherine went through dark times, she kept a journal. With the hope of helping anyone else who may be going through a time where they may question their faith, she is opening the vault of her journal entries that she hopes will bring an existential understanding to others to know that they are not alone during their dry spell of faith.