Missed that one

I thought this was a wonderful book; Ian is a very good writer. It was inspiring to read how he was able to triumph over the alcoholic influence of his father. His book fell short when he decided to elucidate about his experience in church when he heard the words,'forgive me.' Sadly the nun who interpreted that for him was far, far doctrinally off-base. This was not a message from God asking for forgiveness, God, Jesus never needs to be forgiven by us, just the thought of it is almost unholy. Its as though she was telling him what she thought he needed to hear; while what he needed to do was 'forgive his father' himself. Forgiveness is not primarily about the one who offends us as it is our own spiritual growth. I am somewhat puzzled as to why Thomas Nelson was willing to publish this section of the book, given the misguided theology of God that is not accepted across the Christian spectrum. I would definitely recommend this book with the caveat that people understand the section about 'forgiveness' is not a doctrinal statement.

Towards the end of the book we see an Ian that is spiritually strong in determining not to make the mistakes his father made with him, and to guide his children in the ways of the Lord. I would have however enjoyed the second half of the book being a little more like the first; for the second half seems to skip over his life's story more than the first half. It is definitely a book where there are places everyone can associate with; Ian definitely is a creative writer. I received this book from Thomas Nelson publishers for an honest evaluation.
'JESUS, MY FATHER, THE CIA, AND ME.' CRON,Ian Morgan. Thomas Nelson Publishing
ISBN: 9780849946103

Nothing like a soldiers view

While looking thru the shelves of books on the Civil War in the library I came across 'Rebel Private: Front and Rear: Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier.' To merely say this was an interesting read would be close to an insult to the author, whose journal it is. Within a few pages it was more than apparent to even the most surface reader that this was a classic. There is an afterword by one of Bill Fletchers great granddaughter who writes that inspite of his business successes following the Civil War, Bill was a true philanthropist, giving to organizations that had helped in some way to his surviving the great war.
This was an exceptional read as we are given a view of the civil war from one who endured it, not as an officer or special agent, not from a historian commenting from research, but from one who actually lived it and had no deep personal axe to grind; he was simply dedicated to a cause, but when that cause failed, he didn't fail. His acceptance of being on the losing side has many lessons about character, forgiveness and grace that all of us need to be reminded of from time to time. And yet, it was not a characteristic born because he had gone through a war, but a characteristic of his very being that one suspects he would have even if he hadn't been in war. I truly admired the man, and I am sure I am a better person for having read his account.
FLETCHER,William A., Rebel Private: Front and Rear., New York, New York. Originally published in 1908, MERIDIAN, Penguin Books. ISBN:31348001091434
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