February - April 2005

The Christian Walk: The Struggle
To Remain on the Path 
by Dr. Sheila C. Carpenter

What choices should we make to walk in new directions? In our daily lives we endeavor to employ all that would allow a sense of spirituality steeped in faith-based initiatives. We know and understand what it takes to exemplify ‘thus sayeth the Lord’, but are we walking the walk and talking the talk? What steps need to be taken to insure our election and calling to be true? Suffice it to say, and with a plethora of ‘how to’ directives and books, yet comes one more to add to the list. Dr. Sheila Carpenter provides her personal objectives on what path should be taken and why. Her new book, The Christian Walk covers quite a few mandates to give direction to stay on the right track. It’s about staying straight, turning right, and of course, looking up. “It’s not easy being a Christian” in some annals of life is true, but tends to become a timeworn cliché without initiating at least a chance for viable choices for change. According to this inspiring book, being in position to walk the path of compassion and morality that Christ walked would not only be challenging, but rewarding. How? One may do so by incorporating and developing a Christ-like character through the methodologies of Pray, Fasting, and Faith.

The author plays it safe with references throughout the Bible, and generally does an above average job of showing Christians and non-Christians alike how to attain a greater knowledge and appreciation of Christianity. Vividly showing the need to establish a base to reap the rewards of a centered life, the book rambles on visiting various points to ponder. She helps her readers take a step toward understanding and embracing the things she espouses by including scripture, analogy and interpretive vestiges of allowing prayer to accompany the inference of fasting to enhance faith. A book of this magnitude is not new, nor are the contents immeasurable of contextual value, but what would have made it stand out from the rest would’ve been to include real-life stories so that readers could identify more with the message. Points of contention should always be represented in ways to make your precepts clear, and what better way than to personalize them? Without testimonies to further paint pictures bolstering the need for inclusive prayer, fasting and faith, I felt that at times it came across as being too preachy. Moreover, of the three examples used for the base to legitimize this book, not enough reference was made to give fasting a substantive concept. With this said, it doesn’t take from the overall message that the author intoned, rather, it would have definitely weighed favorably to garner higher points if those exclusionary methods were inherent.

This book will reach someone and may be a cornerstone to stay on the right path. I’m confident that Dr. Carpenter will embellish her reading public more as time progresses with innate spirituality and faith that will define her as a must read author in the Christian genre. If this is done in any reasonable way, it will go beyond doubt as she continues her quest to give people vision for victory, and a clear path to live a complete life. Reading this book would be a start for a welcomed walk in the right direction. I rate this book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. Buy it and be enlightened!

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