This book by Eugene Peterson, pastor and for many years a professor at Regent College in Canada, was recommended to me. And I highly recommend it in turn. It is delightful, full of wisdom, and carries tremendous empathy and grace.
The book is written in a series of letters by Eugene to a friend (Gunnar). That literary device reminds me of books like “The Screwtape Letters” (C.S Lewis) whereby Screwtape (a senior devil) corresponds with his nephew (a junior devil) Wormwood, as well as “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” (Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer), a feel-good romantic novel set in WWII also written in epistolary style.
When I first read “The Wisdom of Each Other”, there were so many nuggets in there that struck me that I started copying them into a notebook. After a while, I gave up, because I was copying every other passage in practically every page! It’s an easy read and can be breezed through in a day or two, but is so deep and profound that it’s worth re-reading and chewing on every year.
After losing touch with his good friend Gunnar for 40 years, Eugene Peterson receives a letter from him. He sets forth his response, and it goes from there:
Dear Gunnar,
I must say that your letter caught me by complete surprise, but with considerable delight. After all these years! From time to time someone or other would mention your name, but I never got enough accompanying gossip to give me any sense of your life, so the forty years since we last saw each other at university graduation are a virtual silence.
Eugene PeTERSON, THE WISDOM OF EACH OTHER
As they get reconnected, Gunnar – who walked away from God and comes back to Him, seeks advice on all manner of Christian living: finding a church, struggling to pray, choosing a spiritual director, worrying about a daughter dabbling in New Age concepts etc. It’s all very relatable, and Eugene Peterson’s advice will make you smile, think, laugh, ponder and reflect all at once. I couldn’t recommend this book enough!