“Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger
The latest book in our listening saga while we drive has been this wonderful mid-west tale of family life under a prayerful father. What struck me about this novel was the author’s inclusion of other literary masterpieces and a borrowing of other styles as a patchwork of tales that made his own work great. Through each character, from the narrator’s told-from-the-front-porch style to the sister’s western epic poetry, and the father’s prayerful adventures, the author guides his readers through a story land filled with miracles and spiritual moments as if he really believed them to be true (shocking I know).
What I enjoyed about the theme of this story was the resolution comes from the message of the story, a sacrifice of father for son, not as a happy end to the complex plot. This seems to follow life as a Christian much more accurately than some other stories where happiness is based on the conclusion of characters, not of a thematic moral, especially if the author’s lesson is faithful prayer. Not to give away the ending too much, but what struck me and has stood as a lingering prayer of my own is that I would be a man of prayer who also prays through life with the faith that God will provide me with the moments to live out that faith especially when it might require that which I hold most dear. In other words, I should pray for moments in which I might act in a manner glorifying to God, and not be surprised when those moments and acts actually arrive, not from myself but as part of God’s plan. As an introvert preparing for the mission field I have begun to pray that God would give me opportunities to show himself faithful as he also provides the words that need to be heard, even as uncomfortable and hesitant as they may be.
Definitely read this one and expect to be wrapped up in the author’s world that mimics our own harsh and fallen reality, but one in which faithful prayer is used in God’s sovereign plan to accomplish his will. Can I get a witness?…
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Dear Tara,
I have read this book, Peace Like A River, at least 25 times, over the years. When I don’t feel like reading anything else, I turn a page or several of Peace. I am not a Christian. But I fell head over heels in love with the story, the miracles, and human frailties. Enger’s writing, is nothing short of perfect, and so, if there is a God, and I suppose there is, having witnessed a few miracles myself, that God, exhibits in the creativity or even, the ordinary, of humanity, like Leif Enger.
One year for Christmas, I sent a copy of the book to my siblings, 4 of them, and my daughters, I have 2 daughters, and not one of them had the same reaction as I have every time. Oh well!
God’s Will or will of the human spirit, and the divine unexplained, but there, in our individual or collective human experience, the book is a testament to all of the above. I make no judgements how any one thing happens or doesn’t regarding miracles, ordained by the divine or the human spirit, I just love reading about them, hearing about them, and experiencing them.
I would like to add here, that I have been brave enough to share unwitnessed miracles with those I trust, and I realize, that now, I always puncuate the end of my story like this: This is what happened, make of it what you will. (!!!!)
I so look forward to the author’s next book, and it looks like it is coming out in May 2008. I often wonder if Leif Enger will ever be able to write another novel like it, but I am WAITING patiently, to find out!
Regards from Florida,
Susan Hulm
You CAN get a witness. Can the witness be an extrovert??