Post-Traumatic God

How the Church Cares for People Who Have Been to Hell and Back

David W. Peters

• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780819233035
• eBook ISBN: 9780819233042
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

After traumatic events, many turn away from the Church; this book presents a path home, providing a way back to a God who can be trusted, loved, and worshipped. Today, the church is sometimes viewed (even from within) as a place apart, which may create a barrier of understanding for those who have experienced trauma. Post-Traumatic God grew out of Peters' own experience as a chaplain in Iraq and later as an Episcopal priest, and from his subsequent work with an organization he founded, Episcopal Veterans for Peace, which helped him identify the need for this quite-different book to bridge that gap. In it, Peters explores three related themes: history (the early church itself was a post-traumatic community); theology (especially building on Tillich's World War I experiences and the theology he subsequently developed); and ecclesiology (how church can offer community to trauma survivors. Post-Traumatic God equips the Church to heal the unseen wounds of the soul.

Five Stations on the Pilgrimage after War

by David W. Peters and the founding members of the Hospitallers of St. Martin

War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.

—Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried

Many will argue that there is nothing remotely spiritual in combat. Consider this. Mystical or religious experiences have four common components: constant awareness of one’s own inevitable death, total focus on the present moment, the valuing of other people’s lives above one’s own, and being part of a larger religious community such as the Sangha, ummah, or church. All four of these exist in combat. The big difference is that the mystic sees heaven and the warrior sees hell. Whether combat is the dark side of the same version, or only something equivalent in intensity, I simply don’t know. I do know that at the age of fifteen I had a mystical experience that scared the hell out of me and both it and combat put me into a different relationship with ordinary life and eternity.

Most of us, including me, would prefer to think of a sacred space as some light-filled wondrous place where we can feel good and find a way to shore up our psyches against death. We don’t want to think that something as ugly and brutal as combat could be involved in any way with the spiritual. However, would any practicing Christian say that Calvary Hill was not a sacred space?

—Karl Marlantes, What It Is Like to Go to War

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them.

—Luke 24:13–15

Veterans are men and women who survived war. While the trip home from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Vietnam, or any other conflict can be measured in hours or days, the pilgrimage of war takes far longer.

During the medieval period, veterans returning from war often went on penitential pilgrimages to find reconciliation after war. Most warrior cultures have rituals and rites that restore the warrior to the community after war.

Will you consider this pilgrimage? Will you consider taking the first step toward the first station on the way? It won’t be easy and it may make you uncomfortable at times. But know this, you are not alone. The warriors in this room are going to walk it with you, as well as the communion of warrior saints that look down on us from above. Most importantly of all, Jesus will walk with you, all the way to the end.

Group Rules

•Everyone is on his or her own pilgrimage and we cannot solve each other’s problems. We take all the issues we raise in the group to the prayer time at the end.

•We give each other the gift of listening. No responses to comments or stories unless someone asks for a response.

•Confidentiality above all.

•Tell the truth about who you are.

Every meeting should begin with a lament. A lament is a work of art, a poem, song, object, or reading that captures the emotional experience of war. Group members are expected to bring something. Arrangements should be made prior to the group meeting about who is bringing what.

Station 1

Plan of Attack: The group leader shows how war grants the power of death to combatants. Historically, the power of death is in the domain of the gods, or God. This is why we say that war is fought in the mythical realm. When we participate in it, it participates in us. This can be illustrated on a chalkboard or whiteboard, if available.

So, what was it like in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia? Few veterans can answer this question because words cannot entirely capture our experiences. Our reverence for our own experiences should not be cause for further withdrawal, however. We need to engage our experiences, for they are us and we are them.

The theological point to bring up here is Jesus’s post-resurrection appearances. Jesus introduces himself by showing the scars on his hands and feet. Clearly, his body bore scars, but what of his mind and emotions? His torturous death must have existed in his memory and he never speaks of it to his disciples. There is much to ponder here and that is probably the best approach.

Questions (Remember, we all just listen!)

1.How much power did you or your unit have in war?

2.How did you participate in that power?

The group leader now discusses the symptoms of returning warriors:

1.Have you ever felt numb to what was going on around you?

2.Have you ever felt hyper-vigilant?

3.Have you ever had a violent outburst of anger, disproportionate to the situation?

4.Have any of these things affected your relationships?

5.How did you describe your experiences in combat to family and friends back home? How did that go?

The leader does not attempt to solve any of the problems. The leader leads the group in their Pilgrimage to God. Group members are encouraged to share these struggles during the confession or free intercessions of the Order for Compline.

The group concludes with moving to a suitable location to pray the Order for Compline on page 127 in the Book of Common Prayer.

Station 2

Plan of Attack: The group leader will attempt to show how war produces loss and loss produces grief. Veterans are often unaware of their own grief. Larry Dewey’s War and Redemption identifies PTSD as a “grief issue.” He came to this conclusion after spending thousands of hours with WWII and Vietnam veterans. Dewey shows in his book how we go to war because of propaganda (sometimes true, sometimes not). We stay in war, he argues, for love. We love the people who go into the fire with us. We form deep attachments to them and they to us. The loss of one of these people is often a greater loss than losing a biological family member. There are obvious losses like the death of a battle buddy, and less obvious losses like the loss of safety, identity, or relationship. Everyone loses something in a war and it is always a surprise.

Questions (Just listen, no solving!):

1.What were some of the reasons you went to war?

2.Who were some of the people with whom you built a strong friendship?

3.Did anyone say you were different when you came back from military service or war? In what way?

4.What were your losses in war (financial, relational, spiritual, physical)?

After everyone has shared, the leader leads the group in their Pilgrimage to God. Group members are encouraged to share these struggles during the confession or free intercessions of the Order for Compline.

The group concludes with moving to a suitable location to pray the Order for Compline on page 127 in the Book of Common Prayer. Candles for the departed or for other losses can be lit.

Station 3

Plan of Attack: This group session will tackle the thorny issue of theodicy. Where was God when ________. If war is hell, is God in hell? Why didn’t God prevent some or all of the deaths? Why did the good die young? The horrors and cruelty of war challenge the traditional Christian belief that God is in control of the universe.

For many, this is a theological and philosophical exercise. For veterans, this question can result in anger, feelings of betrayal, and a sense of abandonment. Anger at God is a sign of a strong relationship with God, as evidenced by the Old Testament prophets. The leader should work hard in this session to clear space for members to express their emotions without judgment.

Larry Dewey, mentioned at Station 2, also addresses what happens to people when they “Break the Geneva Convention of the Soul.” That is, when they do something in war that they know to be wrong but are driven by circumstances to make a “lesser of two (or three) evils” decision. Warriors are often forced by circumstance to stand by while atrocities (large and small) happen before them. The result is often moral injury.

Questions (Don’t solve, just listen.):

1.Where was God when ________?

2.How would you describe God’s involvement in the world before you went to war?

3.How would you describe God’s involvement in the world now?

4.How did Jesus confront this “Where was God question” during his earthly life? (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

5.Do any of the prayers or statements from Compline relate to your military service, or your current experience?

After everyone has shared, the leader leads the group in their Pilgrimage to God. Group members are encouraged to share these struggles during the confession or free intercessions of the Order for Compline.

The group concludes with moving to a suitable location to pray the Order for Compline on page 127 in the Book of Common Pr...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• To Hell and Back
• The God Who Disappears
• A Shattered God
• The Hebrew Bible and the Shattering Effects of War
• The New Testament and the Shattering Effects of War
• Early Church Fathers and the Shattering Effects of War
• Protestant Reformers and the Shattering Effects of War
• Paul Tillich and the Shattering Effects of War
• Paul Tillich and the Trials of Homecoming
• The Courage to Be
• The New Being
• God as the Ground of Being
• Post-Traumatic Witness
• Post-Traumatic Resurrection
• Post-Traumatic Pentecost
• Post-Traumatic Leaders
• Post-Traumatic Reconciliation
• Post-Traumatic Pilgrimage
• Post-Traumatic Pilgrimage Today
• Post-Traumatic Compline
• Practical Steps toward Becoming a Post-Traumatic Church
• Five Stages on the Pilgrimage after War
• Appendix: The Twelve Steps
• Bibliography