Hallmark is kinda considered the gold standard of Christmas movies. As such, they generally try to market their movies to a wide variety of people. We don’t usually see heavily religious tones in their movies. That all changed with The Gift Of Peace.

Traci (Nikki Deloach) lost her husband to a brain tumor. She also lost her faith. As she prepares for her first solo Christmas art exhibit, she finds herself having a tough time emotionally. She joins a church grief group to try to find both comfort and inspiration for her artwork. Not only does she find both, she also finds a community of friends.

I don’t usually do well with super religious movies. I don’t like to be preached at. Maybe it’s because this movie was almost completely about grief and how to get through it but it didn’t feel preachy, even though it is a VERY Catholic movie. Or maybe it’s because they didn’t try to solve their issues through religion. Yes, they prayed a lot. Yes, they talk about God a lot. But not in a “God has a plan” sort of way. More like a “Let’s go look at this gorgeous sunrise because it makes me feel closer to God.” To me, those are two very distinct statements. “God has a plan” means you have no agency in your life. “Sunrises make me feel closer to God” means your spirituality is heightened. Maybe it’s not God but the feeling that your departed loved one is close.

Surprisingly, I’m going to put this in the Watch column. I’m not saying it’s Must See TV or anything but it does have a nice calm feeling to it. Nothing is rushed, no one is forcing relationships, everyone is allowed to do what they want on their own terms. While I would personally prefer to take out the religious aspect, I can understand how important it is to other people. The Gift Of Peace is a bit of a nice in-between movie. Religious without beating you over the head with it.