This book has an interesting origin. Carlfred Broderick wrote this as an essay and presented it at a BYU Women’s conference but the publishing was done posthumously. Broderick passed away in 1999 after losing his fight with cancer. It is interesting to note that even with what is going on in today’s current events his approach to adversity is just as applicable now as it was when it was presented at the conference.
The writing style that is used is easy to follow and very engaging. The stories that he uses are also true, emotionally gripping and they illustrate well the points that Broderick is trying to make. This is a hard look at pain and why it comes into the lives of good individuals.
“The gospel of Jesus Christ is not insurance against pain.... It is resource in the event of pain, and when that pain comes... rejoice that you have resource to deal with your pain.” (pg 7) The pain of life is different for everyone. Some people have horrible heart-wrenching pain come into their lives, while with others, the greatest pain they feel could be compared to a bad toothache. Broderick states that some are stronger than others, while people like himself are “great chicken(s)” (pg 9)
There is priceless wisdom available to all people everywhere. This wisdom is to learn from the mistakes of others and thus avoid those pitfalls of pain. However, few are wise enough to receive that which is given free and spare themselves a world of pain. Broderick spells out the kind of deep and abiding faith each must find in order to know how to deal with that pain the will come into our lives.
Broderick’s engaging style of writing leads the reader on a journey of thought-provoking conversation. He is not preachy or a know-it-all, rather Broderick presents his ideas and findings in such a way as to help the reader feel like they are in the company of a caring and close friend. I recommend this book to everyone since we all will face painful and difficult situations in our lives but especially to those who are in pain right now. Copyright 2008