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A Book of Love
"For in the winds of all adversity stands the calm dove of peace" is what Sally Johnston first heard on June 17, 1974, while reading a letter from a friend. The unfamiliar voice persisted until she picked up her pen and recorded these thirteen words—followed by thousands more that flowed spontaneously through her over the next seven years.
Sally has always said that she did not write this work. Rather, that it was given to her "by God" when she needed it most, before tucking it away for safekeeping, where it remained for decades.
In 2017 she asked me for help with her "book" and gave it to me a year later, without explanation or guidance. I have since worked to preserve what she was given as A Book of Love, and Sally's 101 messages from God are now available on Amazon:
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Presented in 101 entries preserved in their original order, A Book of Love has been transcribed with care and shaped only lightly, allowing the messages to carry their original voice and meaning. No commentary or interpretation has been added to messages that remain as they came—preserved and whole, emerging in their own rhythm and time.
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This is a book for quiet reflection, for those drawn to the still space within, and for moments when faith longs for language gently spoken.
"For in the winds of all adversity
stands the calm dove of peace."
Long before I became the steward of A Book of Love, I knew Sally Johnston in a very different light—when I was Miss New Jersey 2002 and Sally the traveling companion who accompanied me through my year of service. It was a time of pageantry and excitement, but Sally's love and support was a profound part of that experience. Every moment as "Sally's Girl" was an honor, one I humbly share with countless other women who form the Miss New Jersey sisterhood.
Sally is a lifelong volunteer with the Miss America Organization, serving as the Executive Director and Official Miss New Jersey Traveling Companion for over 54 years. A wife, mother of four, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of four, she has described her tireless service of the pageant as her "ministry." An artist, teacher, and storyteller, she brings equal parts beauty and laughter to the world leaving an impact that transcends words. When Sally looks at you with "eyes of love," you are love, as her messages suggest.
Every line of the work she received in the decade before I was born remains near its original perfection, in prose replete with layers of meaning I am yet to fully understand. I do know it has been a gift to bear witness to this book, to have held it sacred for seven years, and to aid in the process that brought it to publication on June 17, 2025—51 years to the date of when Sally received the first message.
Ultimately, I believe my role in its creation is among the most important things I will do in my life—but one of Sally's many disciples, weaving threads of her love into this world. ​
xo,