A dramatic true story of a man refined by fire, a Bruderhof pastor whose spiritual legacy continues to touch thousands.Can our wounds become our greatest gift? Bruderhof pastor J. Heinrich Arnold was a broken man. Yet those who knew him said they never met another like him. Some spoke of his humility and compassion; others of his frankness and earthy humor. In his presence, complete strangers poured out their darkest secrets and left transformed. Others met him with hatred.Writer Henri Nouwen called him a “prophetic voice” and wrote of how his words “touched me as a double-edged sword, calling me to choose between truth and lies, selflessness and selfishness. . . . Here was no pious, sentimental guide; every word came from experience.”Who was this extraordinary yet simple man? In this gripping and richly spiritual book, Peter Mommsen tells the dramatic true story of the grandfather he hardly knew. Read it, and you will never look at your own life the same way again.Gold Medal Winner, 2016 IPPY Book of the Year Award in Biography, Independent PublishersSilver Medal Winner, 2016 Benjamin Franklin Award in Religion, Independent Book Publishers Association
Peter Mommsen is the editor of Plough Quarterly magazine. He lives in upstate New York with his wife Wilma and their three children.
Contents1. Opa2. Revolution3. Sannerz4. A Blow5. Conversion6. The Sun Troop7. Lotte8. Father and Son9. Adolescence10. Tata11. An Arrival12. Nazis13. Silum14. Annemarie15. The Farewell16. Four O’clock17. The Last Letter18. Refugee Wedding19. Emmy Maria20. Heliopher21. Primavera22. Repentance23. Nightmares24. Among Children25. Banished26. Sapucay27. Fatherhood28. Marianne29. On the Road30. Changes31. Woodcrest32. The Crucible33. Liberation34. To the FinishEpilogueSourcesAcknowledgments
What goes through the hearts and minds of great men? In this wise and sensitive volume, Peter Mommsen brings the life of J. Heinrich Arnold into clear and penetrating focus. It is a book full of vital lessons about leadership, patience, sacrifice and forgiveness. --Ari Goldman, Columbia University, author of Being Jewish
Bill McKibben, Eugene H. Peterson, N. T. Wright, Elizabeth Lev, Calvin DeWitt, Jane Tyson Clement, Wendell Berry, Barbara Kingsolver, John Muir, Flannery O'Connor, John Paul, Peter Mommsen