The Peacegiver

I approach today’s post as reverently as possible. I know that may sound strange but I am writing about two books that have had significant influence in my life. I am quite certain that most of you are familiar with one of them…. and have never heard of the other.

I’m not going to write about the scriptures- meaning the 4 Standard Works. Please know that without a doubt, the 4 Standard Works; The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price continue to be held in the highest esteem in my life. I have however been forever changed by two contemporary books that I would like to talk about.

The two books I am referring to are “The Peacegiver” by James L. Farrell and “The Second Comforter: Conversing with the Lord Through the Veil” by Denver C. Snuffer. “The Peacegiver” is a widely known book in the LDS community- published by Deseret Book and sold many places. “The Second Comforter” on the other hand is by a very small publisher and is available at only one bookstore that I know of; Benchmark Books in Salt Lake City. Today I will only write about The Peacegiver.

I quote from the jacket flap of “The Peacegiver” “What does the atonement mean, practically speaking? How is Christ the answer to a strained relationship with a spouse, child, parent, or sibling? What if I am being mistreated—how can the atonement help me cope with that? How can I discover the desire to repent when I don’t feel the need to repent? And how can I invite others to do the same? These are the challenging, difficult questions of daily life, questions to which the gospel must provide answers if it is to have living, cleansing redeeming power.

The Peacegiver is a book about the answers to these questions. Unlike other books about the atonement, The Peacegiver is written as an extended parable. It tells the story of a man struggling, with the help of a loved one, to come unto Christ.”

“My peace I give unto you,” the Savior declared. The Peacegiver explores in a deeply personal way what we must do to receive the peace he stands willing to give.

I first read The Peacegiver in the Fall of 2005. I was in a place personally that I really needed the blessings of the atonement. It was during this reading that I learned… and understood for the first time that not only was the atonement powerfully capable of taking away my own sins, but was also able to take away the sins of others: perhaps those who had hurt and offended me. I really learned for the first time how to forgive.

In the months that followed my first reading I was taught many great lessons by the Spirit about the atonement. I learned while reading in 1 Corinthians 6 that we have been bought with a price! “19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

What is the price that has been paid for us? What is our worth? The obvious answer is that we were bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. God gave the life of His own Son in exchange for ours!

In order to understand this concept better, while pondering, I was blessed with the following illustration. When we buy a house, we take out a mortgage. We are bound by this mortgage and have a legal obligation to pay for it. Of course we pay the party that “owns” the mortgage. However, during any given time during the time we owe the mortgage, the owner of it may sell it to another without our consent or approval. We are then under no obligation to continue to pay the original holder of the loan…. They don’t own it any more: It has been bought with a price.

The atonement is very similar. We may have someone who has really hurt or offended us: They really “owe” us. But Christ has already bought that debt. It is no longer owned by the individual that hurt us. Since Christ is now the owner of it, do we continue to harbor our hurt feelings toward Him? How could we when he has done the same for us?

It is my hope that we can all remember “we are not our own… we have been bought with a price”. I pray we can all forgive one another and strive to live more like Him.