The October 2024 issue of Anabaptist World includes several mini reviews of recent books on faith and introspection.

On June 21, 2020, Linda Stoltzfoos vanished while walking home from an Old Order Amish church service in Lancaster County, Pa. Her disap­pear­ance prompted an outpouring of support and significant media attention. Just over a year later, Justo Smoker pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering Stoltzfoos. Tim Rogers, Smoker’s brother-in-law, struggled with disbelief when Smoker was arrested. He was not expecting a knock on the door from an Amish neighbor who gave him cucumbers and flowers and said, “There is hope. God will take care of you.” Nor was Megan Rogers Shertzer, who knew Smoker as a loving uncle, prepared for the feelings of survivor’s guilt, since she was about the same age as Stoltzfoos. She was amazed when Stoltzfoos’ friends reached out to her and offered a celebration in honor of Shertzer’s birthday. Told in alternating first-person perspectives, Beechdale Road: Where Mercy Is More Powerful Than Murder (published by the authors) shares Rogers’ and Shertzer’s experiences of grief, guilt and grace from the time Stoltzfoos disappeared to when Smoker was sentenced. This short book is not about the crime itself but the journey of healing. The Stoltzfoos family visited the extended Smoker family several times. “I felt that we as a family didn’t deserve their kindness, their grace, even their presence,” Shertzer wrote. “Grace is difficult, and it’s painful, and it’s awkward.” But grace is also redemptive. “We’ve experienced moments where kindness upends condemnation, where mercy displaces shame — and those moments have deeply changed us,” the authors write. Tragedies are devastating, but mercy and grace are stronger. Beechdale Road bears witness to this hard-won truth. — Eileen Kinch

A new approach to an Advent devotional, Comfort and Joy: Readings and Practices for Advent (Herald) invites readers to slow down and savor what really matters in the Advent and Christmas seasons. Sherah-Leigh Gerber and Gwen Lantz invite readers to engage with the season in practical ways that point toward the sacred amid the ordinary. They encourage engagement with Poems, Theme Reflec­tions, Practices of Joy (an invitation to action), Lectionary Texts from Wilda C. Gafney’s Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Words of Comfort, Recipes, Pause for Reflection, and Blessings. The poems and blessings invite the reader to pause, consider and savor the blessings and the God-given peace that are often lost in our fast-paced culture and the hectic Christmas season. The format includes 10 elements for the six weeks of Advent and Christmas, as well as a small-group adaptation guide and bonus recipes. The authors invite us to enter the Advent season with different priorities this year — to reflect, celebrate and savor the beautiful moments. — Jennie Wintermote

More than 20 years ago, Brethren in Christ pastors, educators, admin­istrators and laypeople formulated core values for the church. Compelling Convictions: Finding Our Future In a Modern World (Herald), edited by Terry L. Brensinger, Jennifer Lancaster and Alan Robinson, updates those values, or convictions, for a contemporary and more global audience. The 10 convictions addressed are: Experiencing God’s love and grace, believing the Bible, worshiping God, following Jesus, belonging to the community of faith, witnessing to the world, serving compassionately, pursuing peace, living simply and relying on God. Each chapter addresses a conviction by a different writer, followed by two response essays. The writers are BIC members, most of them pastors, from around the world, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Spain, India, Colombia and Venezuela, as well as North America. Several writers note that the BIC is shaped by Anabaptist, pietist, Wesleyan and evangelical traditions; a few note the particular importance of the Anabaptist influence, especially in regard to belonging to the community of faith and pursuing peace. One writer notes that the early Anabaptists challenged the Reformation’s individualism, which separated salvation from the community of faith. While this book is addressed primarily to BIC readers, it makes a useful discussion tool for other Anabaptists as well. — Gordon Houser

Hymns might make a greater impact than sermons — or provide inspiration for sermons. That’s what they’ve done for Carla Klassen, who offers 37 hymn-inspired short chapters in Living Our Hymns (Pandora), a sequel to These Songs We Sing: Reflections on the Hymns We Have Loved. A Mennonite pianist from Ontario, Klassen drew encouragement for a second volume from readers who “feel deeply connected to these old songs, despite the ways in which we have evolved and grown in our worship and understandings of faith in the modern world.” In addition to filling in the hymns’ backstories, Klassen builds new thoughts around the old texts, many from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Her essays range from spiritual reflections to commentary on societal problems. “Children of the Heavenly Father” prompts thoughts on mass shootings in schools: “From all evil things he spares them; in his mighty arms he bears them.” Klassen wonders: “Do we ask ourselves what we have done to be God’s mighty arms on this earth? . . . Are we willing to make our purpose solely that of preserving all children, old and young, in the safety of our bosom? Clearly, the answer is no.” From a hope-filled African American spiritual (“Steal Away”) to an intense prayer (“Spirit of God! Descend Upon My Heart”), Klassen is “drawn to music and words that both inspire and confound.” This would make a good devotional book, putting a song in the reader’s heart for the day. — Paul Schrag

As political divi­sions grow violent, the risk of civil war rises, even in the United States. Anabaptist peace practitioner John Paul Led­erach, who has worked to mediate conflicts over four decades, shares how everyday people have interrupted cycles of violence in The Pocket Guide for Facing Down a Civil War. Available for free since July as an online “flipbook” or a down­loadable PDF at johnpaullederach.com, the 113-page book suggests the U.S. is not exceptional: Americans can learn how enemies in other parts of the world have resisted the toxic dynamics that lead to armed conflict. Lederach encourages everyone — not just generals, presidents and militia strongmen — to reach beyond isolated bubbles and open con­versation with those who think differently. It’s the first step in rehuman­izing adversaries. “We must have the courage to confront dehumanizing lan­­guage and behavior, especially when it comes from within our closest circles,” he wrote in The Wash­ington Post. “. . . Politics without violence is only possible when we stay connected. It’s hard, but not nearly as difficult as stopping a war.” — Tim Huber

Carlos Whittaker spent seven weeks screen-free and lived to tell about it in Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks with Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human (Thomas Nelson). A friend who married a former Amish man connected him with a sheep-farming family in Mount Hope, Ohio. It turns out the extended Miller clan he lives with for two weeks is partly Amish and partly Men­nonite (some having recently left the Amish), and he learns about the differ­ences. He decides the Amish are setting good examples for everyone, like having meals together with no tech at the table. He’s impressed with pretty much every­thing and constantly amazed, including by Sunday worship in a barn and the pop­u­larity of e-bikes. He learns the Amish aren’t anti-technology but pro-community (and admits he probably idealized them based on his short stay). He concludes we all should do community face-to-face like the Amish, not at a distance on our phones. He spends the last three weeks of his experiment at home with his family, unplugged and loving it. — Paul Schrag