Gilead is the reminiscings of an older gentlemen by the name of John Ames.  He is a preacher in the small town of Gilead, Iowa where he has lived most of his life.  He is 76 years old and finds himself in failing health.  By this time in his life he has seen many things, including wars, disease, and famine.  He himself has lived a hard life and has spent much of his life alone after losing his wife and child when he was a young man himself.  After many years of loneliness he has recently married again and been blessed with a child.  But as it would turn out he is now losing his own life as he watches his son’s life just begin.  And this brings him to writing his son a letter, telling him all the things a father would want to tell his son if they were going through life together.

John is a third generation preacher and has watched the love/hate relationship between his own father and grandfather.  His father was a pacifist and his grandfather fought in the war and encouraged his own congregation to fight along with him.  John recounts much of this ongoing tension between the two older generations and the affect it has had on him.  He struggles with his own desire to stay in this world and not leave all it has to offer behind.  He recounts the innocent trouble he and his best friend from his own youth would get into and treasures that they are still a part of each other’s lives now in their last years.   

As he writes this letter to his son he also struggles with some theological issues that he has never been able to resolve.  He knows in his own heart he has failed when it comes to not envying those around him.  Because of his own empty home for so many years, he finds he is covetous towards those whose homes are full of children and life and laughter.  He understands that the sermons he gives on Sunday mornings are also meant as reminders for his own life.

Gilead is one continuous letter from beginning to end.  It is a letter full of memories, theological wonderings, and instructions for life.  It is a reminder of the importance of prayer and study of the word.  It is the history of an old man’s life and the beginning of a young boy’s world.  It is a look back and a good bye.  And in it we see the love a father has for his son.

Jennifer Stratman