Angie & Jim

“The Peacegiver” by James L. Ferrellby Angie

Justin Bradley offered to lend us this book on Friday, with a very high recommendation. Both Jim and I read the whole thing over the weekend: it’s a quick read, and rather hard to put down. I loved it – It was profound and insightful, but in a very real and familiar way. The protagonist is invited to understand forgiveness and mercy through visions faintly reminiscent of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” except that the scenes he witnesses are from the scriptures, rather than his own life. As the story unfolds, it teaches about the Savior’s Atonement and the role of healing it can play in our relationships.

As a side note, I found it ironic that one of the complimentary comments on the back cover was from C. Terry Warner, which called it, “An invaluable, compelling book of hope and discovery – about Christ, about others, and about ourselves – unlike, I think, any other book you have ever read.” Though I agree with almost his entire statement, it actually did remind me of another book I have read: C. Terry Warner’s very own “The Bonds that Make Us Free.” Brother Warner’s volume, while not written in narrative form like “The Peacegiver,” taught similar concepts in its message of humility, forgiveness, and peace. If you were touched by one, I think you will very likely enjoy the other as well. Not surprisingly, Brother Warner and Brother Ferrell both work for the Arbinger Institute, a foundation based on principles of peace and individual accountability.