Your book, The Peacegiver, is being hailed as
“life changing.” What is the book about and why do you think readers
are responding the way they are?
A
number of years ago, in the movie, City Slickers, the trail
boss character (Curly) said that there was “one thing” that life
was about—a single key to happiness. The characters then went
about trying to figure out what that one thing was. For me, The
Peacegiver is about that “one thing”—the one indispensable
truth from which all peace and happiness flows. That one thing
is the practical meaning of the atonement—how Christ is able to
change our hearts, and what we must to do receive the peace of
his healing. It is the one book I would have written if I had
only one book to write.
I
believe people are responding well to the book for two main reasons:
First, because it is about this deepest, most important issue
in life; and second, because it is written in a style that makes
this deepest, most important issue come to life. It is
a doctrinal book that unfolds as a story. Not just any story either,
but a story that is, in a deep way, the story of every reader.
So when we read the book, more than merely reading about
the atonement, we find ourselves within the atonement,
and we discover for ourselves what the atonement offers to and
requires of us today—in our marriages, with our children,
and in our relationships with our associates and neighbors.
So would you say that the book is more of a story or
more of a doctrinal work?
I
would say it is both. In fact, I think it would be a mistake to
make a distinction between the two. After all, the scriptures
themselves—the most doctrinal of all works—unfold as a series
of stories. However, I didn’t set out to write merely a story.
Rather, I was filled with impressions and convictions about the
atonement—about its awesome and awesomely practical meaning and
power. I chose to write the book as a story for the reason I just
mentioned: I didn’t want the book to be merely about the
atonement. Rather, in order for the book to have power and meaning
to people, I wanted it to enable an experience with the
atonement.
I
think it was best said by C. Terry Warner (author of Bonds
that Make Us Free) in his review of the book:
“The
Peacegiver tells the story of a man struggling, with the help
of a loved one, to come unto Christ. Ferrell has ways of taking
us into this man's mind and heart, so that in reading the rich
details of his often difficult journey we find ourselves embarked
on a personal journey of our own, repentantly reviewing thoughts
and feelings that for too long have darkened our spirits. The
path for this journey opens up to us because the story and the
scriptures it brings to life keep clearing away the deceptions
that have held us bound. This is a book of discovery—discovery
of Christ, of others, and of ourselves. And it is therefore also
a book of profound hope—unlike, I think, any other book you have
ever read.”
What led you to write the book?
There
were a number of factors. Perhaps the earliest was that during
an extended study of the Old Testament, I discovered the little-known
story of Abigail and a glorious truth that captivated my soul.
That story, and what it came to mean to me, kept presenting itself
anew in my life. I was struck by the power the story gave me to
come unto Christ—especially when it seemed most difficult to do
so. I felt the world needed to know that story, and that we all
would be a lot better off if we tried to live by it. In short,
the story of Abigail wouldn’t leave me alone—that was probably
the first factor that ultimately led to my writing the book.
In
addition, I was working on a professional book that had to do
with issues of peace and peacemaking. In the middle of that project
I began to feel a yearning. If I was to write of peace, my soul
kept telling me, I wanted to be able to go all the way to the
source—to be able to talk about the real foundation of peace.
That meant that I had to speak of Christ—the Prince of Peace—a
figure and topic the professional audience couldn’t consider.
As I began to have these yearnings, I couldn’t keep my mind on
my other work. So I put it down for a time and started on a book
that became The Peacegiver. It was my late-night writing
project for many months.
How would you describe the book’s message?
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I
would say it is two things: (1) that the atonement makes sense
and we have the capacity to understand it better than we usually
do; and (2) that the atonement offers a change that is deeper
and even more glorious than we normally suppose. When the Savior
atoned for our sins, for example, he did far more than merely
pay for our sinful acts. He went through an experience
that enables him to change our sinful hearts—our darkened
desires, our complaining natures, our bitter memories. He assumed
the burden of all of our sinful, unloving desires, and overcame
them. “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,” he
promised—a promise he could make because he took our stony hearts,
with their bitterness and desires for sin, into his soul and found
a way to break the chains of sin that bound them. Knowing firsthand
the way out of our individual captivities, he now offers each
of us a new heart—free from the addictions and desires for sin
that have held us captive. This is a miracle like no other, and
in pondering the atonement, we can understand at least the outlines
of how it was done. The Peacegiver is about how it is that
the Savior is able to change our hearts, how that change changes
everything—including our relationships, for example—and about
what we must do to allow him to work this mighty change in our
souls.
