Guest Post: Cross-Bloggination – Lydia from The Lost Entwife

I am so thrilled to be participating in this months Cross-Bloggination and, as an added bonus, to be able to guest post here at Danielle’s There’s a Book! For months now I’ve been getting some of my favorite children’s recommendations from Danielle and, if you are here reading this, you are smart for having her on your list to read!

I had a bit of a struggle choosing my favorite book for August – I have to say I read quite a few depressing books. Of course, there’s Mockingjay which is huge right now and then there was What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman which.. really had me down and out. I experienced two sets of short stories for the first time both both left me feeling a bit bleak and dreary as well.

So for my August choice I want to talk about a book that, while depressing at first glance, held such a story of faith and hope that I couldn’t help but be touched deeply by it.

Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River is the story of a family fractured by a horrifying event. I say fractured but I don’t mean in the sense you’re probably thinking right now. The act of the oldest boy, done for protection and… even a bit of revenge, tears this family apart and they learn the hard way of what it means to live on faith.

There was a passage in this book that spoke of miracles and how we make light of them today. I’d like to quote that passage now.

Let me say something about that word: miracle. For too long it’s been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely normal. Peeping chicks at Easter time, spring generally, a clear sunrise after an overcast week- a miracle, people say, as if they’be been educated from greeting cards. I’m sorry, but nope. Such things are worth our notice every day of the week, but to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the word.

Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It’s true: They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave-now there’s a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time. When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of earth.

This is an unbelievable story narrated by an 11 year old boy. It’s a picture of America in the raw, a challenge to open our eyes and a plea to return to faith. I’m usually not a big fan of Christian literature because I find the stories to be somewhat cliche and devoid of any true warmth but Peace Like a River had me crying buckets of tears and feeling as if my soul had been touched in a very close and intimate way.

You can view my full review of Peace Like a River by Leif Enger the end of this month at The Lost Entwife. Thank you to Danielle for hosting me here today.

Thank you so much Lydia! I’m so happy to host this monthly feature here and I’ll hope you’ll take a look at my post over at Gwen’s site, Chew and Digest Books.