A Step of Faith

I just finished reading a Step of Faith - the 4th book in The Walk series by Richard Paul Evans and LOVED it. In the book, Alan has been taken to the hospital due to a brain tumor. He has surgery. The tumor is benign and after recovering at his Dad's house, he begins where he left off on his walking journey. Why does he insist on continuing to walk? It is part of the mourning and healing process for him. "Why did the man cross America? To see what was on the other side of himself." p. 269. He talks about mourning in the book. In the old days women wore black dresses for two years. Queen Victoria mourned the loss of her husband for an unusually long time - 40 years or so. "It makes me wonder why modern culture has so painstakingly removed the rituals of death. Today, society pressures the bereaved to sweep their grief under the carpet of normality - the sooner the better." p. 164. I know that we are a culture that wants instant fixes. When I lost a child (during pregnancy), it was still very much a death to me and I mourned that loss. My doctor right away wanted to put me on medication. I refused. I felt grief was a process and that it was healthier to work through it - no matter how painful - then it was to medicate it away. The medication might help me think I felt better but it wouldn't help me work through the process of grieving. I think many try to skip that process for the instant fix of feeling immediately better and years later pay the price that unresolved feelings and issues can have. Grief is a process and it can't be rushed. It just takes time and prayer to with God's help --- heal. 

Alan's process of mourning was to walk. Initially, he started out as a way of escape - he wanted to get as far away from the hurt as he could and physically he was in Seattle - the furthest point on the map he felt was Key West, Florida. So he began walking to Key West. As his journey continues in this book he begins walking from St. Louis and gets to Jacksonville, Florida. He meets many interesting characters along the way. The book is a very easy and quick read. Very enjoyable. I highly recommend this book --- but if you haven't read the first ones --- I recommend beginning with book one - they really do build on each other and while they could stand along - the storyline makes way more sense if you read them in order. Book one introduces the reader to the what happened and why he is walking - an important thing to know and understand.