Written by Bodie & Brock Thoene
304 pages
Overall Grade: A+
Well, I've reached the end of it. The last book in this series was in itself
a great book, but as endings usually go it is inherently better because there
is true closure.
All Rivers to the Sea tied up many themes and really
made the series a cohesive unit. Not to mention, it was fun to read. I beg your
forgiveness in advance; this review will be longer than most. I couldn't
discuss many of my thoughts or fully give them attention because the story
itself wasn't over yet in books 2 or 3, now however I have 4 books worth of
plot to draw upon when giving my thoughts on the themes and ideas brought up in
the Galway Chronicles. So, again I apologize for the length.
Maybe the first and most tame idea I got from this series was the attitude
of giving and being kind toward those in need. The books take place in west
Ireland in the years leading up and during the beginning of the potato famine,
so needless to say, poverty is rampant. Yet continually the idea of taking care
of those in more desperate need than yourself crops up. The authors used the
kindness of the Burke and Donovan families to show what true charity could look
like, and they used the British and more wealthy Irish to exemplify the exact
opposite. Being set in such difficult times we see starving families living in
terrible conditions, and with those stories we see two reactions: to support or
destroy. The Burkes gave food and rest to the families they encountered while
many British and Irish reviled the poor especially those with children whose
bellies were bloated from hunger. But we do the same don't we? We turn the TV
channel when World Vision puts the faces of children too weak to swat the flies
from their faces. We change the radio when we hear of entire villages dying
from sickness that could be prevented if only they had clean drinking water. So
the question is, what was the difference between these people, the givers and
the ones who looked away? Faith. Faith that God would honor his word. "A
generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."
(Proverbs 11:25). The “givers” trusted that if they were generous with what God
had given them, they too would be blessed even if they didn't know where it
would come from. I want faith like that.
Another theme I felt the book bring up for pondering was what it truly means
to be a Christian. The English at this time were of the Church of England and
fiercely persecuted Catholics, Baptists, and many other sects of Christianity,
but all of these sects claimed salvation through Jesus just as the Church of
England did. And all the while the Protestants did this they claimed it was for
Christ. I understand some anger and confusion at the Pope and Rome, who really
did for many years use their power not for the glory of God but to gain power
and money for themselves, but no one would look at their actions and call them
justified. James 1:27 says "Religion that is pure and undefiled before
God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to
keep oneself unstained from the world." Most English (I won't say all
because I don't believe that to be true), but most were completely okay with
the idea of all the Irish, including young children, dying of starvation and
even loved the idea of 'Ireland without the Irish'. Why did they want that?
Because Ireland has beautiful, lush land great for grazing and crops. They
wanted the land that the Irish had and hated them enough to watch them starve
to get it. They did this and still had the audacity to call themselves
Christians. Apparently they never read the book of James. Now we are all
sinners and everyone 'hates' something, but the only things we are called to
hate are the things God hates. God hates sin. Period. He doesn't hate anyone,
but he hates what keeps us separate from Him. Many times have I seen that hate
displayed by Christians today and I wish I'd had these words spoken in the book
by a young girl, "You know not the same Christ we know. He who holds
my
sister is not your Lord." (I changed the name so as not to spoil
anything). True Christianity is being Christ-like, caring about what he cared
about and accomplishing his goals. I wish I remembered that more often.
Something else that stuck out to me very strongly might have only done so
because of the political climate I find the United States in. This series is
historical fiction and it seems ironic that the most villainous characters were
politicians and political activists. There were murderers, robbers, and thugs
throughout, but truth be told their crimes were against a few select people and
their actions irrefutable, thus they were able to be held accountable.
It was the politicians that committed the
truly heinous crimes. Taking disease infested blankets to meetings of their
rivals to kill as many people of the opposite ideology as possible. They fought
the lowering of food prices so that Irish farmers whose crops had gone bad
couldn’t afford food for their families. And when these things were brought to
light or argued, they were able to talk their way out of it, claiming it was
for the greater good of England. And who is able to argue that without sounding
like they don’t love their country? Sound familiar? An interesting note about the
politics of that age and area is the fact that the Irish people were not
allowed to own firearms. Throughout the book we see the Irish unable to defend
themselves from not only common criminals but from a corrupt government and its
flunkies. If you haven’t heard the story of the Stanford Prison Experiment I
urge you to visit this website
Stanford Prison Experiment and read up on it. Anyone with a “badge”
is able to abuse the power it gives. Whether it is a correctional officer and
an inmate, a policeman and a civilian, or a government employee and the
citizens it is meant to serve, the abuse of power is a real threat. Denying
that is naiveté to an absurd level. And what was England’s answer (and oddly
enough their answer to this day)? Take away the guns from the people they fear
the most, the whole populace. Not just the criminals, or the mentally unstable,
everyone. Hitler thought like that too.
While reading book after book of all this evil, I was confronted with the thought
of “What can I do”? Do you know what I figured out? Everyone needs to stand up
and speak out. Oftentimes we think that it’s for someone else to do. Someone
else must be saying what I’m thinking, let their voice be heard. That won’t cut
it. A democracy only works when everyone speaks up and the government knows where
the people stand. This is especially true when it comes to Christians. God
calls us to be His ambassadors, His voice in a government He doesn’t have
control over. And it’s not enough to just pray. The walls of Jericho weren’t
brought down by prayer alone and the walls of the Enemy won’t be brought down
by it alone either. It takes us standing up, getting involved, and getting our
hands dirty. God doesn’t promise a shut-out He just promises victory.
I want to end this review with the character of Kate. When we meet her she
is a young widow, physically scarred from the fire that took her husband, and
seemingly without prospects of love or a future of her own. But what I love
about her character the most is her unswerving faith in God and in His promise
that He has plans for her, “p
lans
for welfare and not for evil, plans
to
give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). She has faith that God knows
what is going to happen and has placed us where we are for a reason. I love her
attitude and it’s best described in this quote, “Accept the devil’s doin’ as
God’s will? Accept hunger? Christ fed five thousand. Accept sickness? He healed
the sick and raised the dead. Accept! That’s the devil’s lie! Pray instead for a
clear eye and a firm plan to bring your people relief. Work hard to make this
hard life better for as many as you can. Heaven’ll not be on earth till Christ
brings it to us. Meanwhile it’s in your hand to show Christ’s mercy. Accept the
work God has given us to do. Then do it!” This woman who for many years it
seemed would never be anything but her father’s helper in old age, was the
woman who was integral in saving 500 hundred lives from starvation and death. She
could’ve given up on God and life when things got bad. But she didn’t and it
was that faith in God and His ability to get her through that changed the lives
of hundreds of people and changed the course of history.
I want that faith!
Well that about wraps up my biggest thoughts on the series, aren’t you glad
I didn’t talk about all of them? I am. I have writer’s cramp now! Just kidding.
But seriously these are some very good books. Deep without being stuffy and the
human element is truly inspiring. This won’t be the last book I read from these
authors but I am looking forward to reading something different now. I hope you
enjoyed this review. I spent a lot more time thinking and preparing for this
one but I think that’s because these books touched me in ways I wasn’t
expecting.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments about this review and the others
I’ve done. Also if you have any suggestions for future reads I’d love to hear
those too! Until next time:
“I’ll not live the past – or in a present that never existed. That’s not the
way Kate Donovan accepts the will of God. I live today… now.” –Kate Donovan, All
Rivers to the Sea
