- Applies popular Christ Walk approach as a path to reconciliation and healing
- Combines physical and spiritual avenues in a holistic program that anyone can use
“Walk it off,” that much-used advice of coaches, turns out to work in the spiritual realm, too. Take a walk with Anna and David as they explore reconciliation and healing using the best-selling framework found in Christ Walk: A 40 Day Spiritual Fitness Program.
Through their own experiences with moral injury, illness, and trauma, the authors have found that sometimes the best way to deal with stressful experiences is by moving their feet. Over the course of forty days, readers will experience God in each stage of the healing process in tandem with a biblically inspired journey.
People often turn to the church in search of healing, and research supports the use of active programs as adjunct approaches to wellness. Integrating physical activity with insights into reconciliation and faith, readers may find overall improvements in mind, body, and spirit. While walking may not fix every problem, it can provide an opportunity to experience God as a necessary part of mental, physical, and spiritual growth. In times of trauma, loss, moral injury, abuse, fatigue, rejection, isolation, and pain from illness, war, and stress, accessible holistic practices such as the ones in this book can improve quality of life and health.
Read an excerpt
Audience: Chaplains, veteran fellowships, support groups, Christ Walk groups, Gold Star Mothers
"Through sharing their journey beyond and through the tragedies in their lives, Anna and David have connected the fundamentals of our personal need for God with relevant examples from their personal struggles. This connective element, alone, is a great value to Christians who have found themselves crushed by tragedy; yet, this wonderful book couples those guiding words with introspective physical exercise that mirrors the missions of Christ and his disciples. Encapsulating spiritual, physical, and mental health for those who are hurting is a timely message, especially for our community of veterans and their families, as well as the families of the fallen. The tragedy of losing my son in "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was an experience that could have crushed me. My survival has included a spiritual, mental, and physical dedication to wellness––but I never connected them into a unified whole until reading this book. Anna and David have given us a 40-day wellness journey that melds all these three elements of self into one focused path toward and with Christ."
––Cindy Kruger, Proud Gold Star Mom of SGT Michael C. Hardegree and Past National President, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.
"An essential, thought-provoking exploration of spiritual fitness, an elusive and often misunderstood concept that serves as a wellspring of strength and resilience. Christ Walk Crushed will help readers understand better not only the physical and mental dimensions of fitness, but also how important their faith is to their overall health. A vitally important book to the human condition."
–– Col. Steve Leonard, USA (Ret.), creator of "Doctrine Man!!", non-resident Fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and former senior U.S. Army strategist
"In an age when in our society and culture we are inclined to be separated from one another and from God, this spiritual journey into reconciliation and healing is a very timely offering. Peters and Courie have combined spiritual direction and physical health together. Though we tend to draw lines of separation between the physical and the spiritual, we follow a Lord who never made such separations. The economy of Jesus' approach to the people who needed him most always included an intertwining of the physical and the spiritual. In a very earthy and welcoming manner, the authors have maintained the unity of physical and spiritual being that Jesus intended. The journey they have given us is God's path to wholeness."
–– The Rt. Rev. James B. Magness, Bishop Diocesan Pro Tempore for the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia
Preface
Introduction
Day 1: What is Contrition?
Day 2: What Separates Us from God?
Day 3: What is Remorse?
Day 4: What is Penitence?
Day 5: What Has Been Done and Left Undone?
Day 6: What are God's Laws?
Day 7: What is Sin?
Day 8: How Do We Feel When Separated from God?
Day 9: What is the Impact of Our Sin?
Day 10: What Actions Are Taken During Contrition?
Day 11: What is Confession?
Day 12: How Do We Fail?
Day 13: How does trauma separate us from God?
Day 14: Why confess a moral injury?
Day 15: Why is confession important?
Day 16: Who needs confession?
Day 17: What does confession do to the body?
Day 18: Am I a bad person to need confession?
Day 19: How often do we confess?
Day 20: What Actions do we take during confession?
Day 21: What is Satisfaction?
Day 22: What is penance?
Day 23: What are prayers of sorrow?
Day 24: What does it mean to reveal truth?
Day 25: Types of penance
Day 26: Why is penance important?
Day 27: Why do penance when the injury was done to me (i.e. tie in how trauma/moral injury have outputs of behavior that cause us to sin, although the original situation was not of one's own making...sort of 2nd/3rd order effects of trauma/injury/tragedy.
Day 28: Making things right (I think it needs to cover situations where you try to make things right and the other person is not accepting of your apology/remorse).
Day 29: Letting go of sin
Day 30: What actions do we take during Satisfaction? Moving from satisfaction to absolution/When does penance end?
Day 31: What is Absolution?
Day 32: How long does absolution and reconciliation take?
Day 33: What does Absolution feel like?
Day 34: Why are the steps on my journey important to absolution? Steps/Goals are markers on the way or on the pilgrimage. They can represent penance, the process, the rebuilding of the broken temple (the body), the journey towards a new path with God.
Day 35: Benefits of Absolution from a clergy member
Day 36: Will I need absolution again?
Day 37: The new hope, the new birth, the new you.
Day 38: Being sanctified.
Day 39: Accepting absolution and moving on.
Day 40: What actions do we take during Absolution?
Appendices
A. Suggested Walking / Mileage Routes
B. Fitness Tracker Usage and Mileage Calculations
C. A Few Healthy Eating and Exercise Habits
D. Suggestions for Groups
E. Suggestions for Group Leaders
F. Christ Walk Crushed Program Outlines
G. Bibliography
H. Steps and Mileage Tracker
