Wild Country of the Heart
Navigating the Seasons of the Spiritual Journey with St. Teresa of Avila
7 Sessions with 46-page Full Script and Study Guide
$50
NOW AVAILABLE
The 1hr 10min film is meant to be watched in its entirety first, and the engaged personally or with friends over the course of 7 sessions. The price includes the full film, along with the script, study guide, and resources. The film and guide can be used in retreat settings, in small groups, in classrooms, for adult education, for personal spiritual practice, and in many other kinds of ways.
About the Film
This project is the culmination of more than 15 years of Chuck’s teaching and retreats, which brings St. Teresa’s Interior Castle into our contemporary imagination and formation. Over coffee, Chuck and Andrew dreamed of animating this teaching in film, with original music and videography. It took almost a full year to film, incorporating the seasons of West Michigan’s landscape as a portal into our personal journeys into wholeness and flourishing.
Teresa’s journey mirrors ours today. She dealt with grief and chronic pain, racism and sexism. She witnessed the church in crisis, and experienced abuse and trauma. She deconstructed and reconstructed. In Teresa, we see not a dismissive cynic but a hopeful prophet who experiences a deep sense of inner authority from God, courageously forging a better future. We also see a woman who knows a profound intimacy and immense security which came from surrendering her smaller versions of God and encountering Jesus.
She invites us on this courageous journey even today.
ENDORSEMENTS
In a frazzled and weary culture, many of us are in desperate need of creative, healing, and generative ways to empower us to listen to the voice of our Creator--and the heartbeat of our own life. Dr. Chuck DeGroat and Andrew Nelson have given us one such gift. By leveraging the profound wisdom of St. Teresa of Avila with cinematography and healing insights, they have created a beautiful resource in their film Wild Country of the Heart. I highly recommend it. -AUNDI KOLBER, Author of Try Softer and Strong Like Water
Wild Country of the Heart is a work of creative mastery that takes us on a journey through the spirituality of a medieval mystic named Teresa. But the film goes far beyond a captivating ancient story. It contextualizes an embodied spirituality for our modern lives, inviting us into the interior castles dwelling within. -RYAN KUJA, Author of From the Inside Out: Reimagining Mission, Recreating the World
Wild Country of the Heart is beauty for the eyes, ears, and soul. Describing the faith journey as told from Teresa of Avila's perspective became personal for me as I watched. I felt companioned, held, and increasingly moved as each room was opened. Please give yourself the gift of time with this work of love. -KAYLENE DERKSEN - President, Soul Care Institute
In Wild Country of the Heart, Chuck DeGroat introduces the teachings of Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. Using beauty, wonder, and music this video opens the soul to receive the love of God as Teresa intended—with the whole self. Wild Country of the Heart will cause you to yearn for that kind of connection with God and it will help you begin the journey. -SEAN NEMECEK, Author of The Weary Leader’s Guide to Burnout: A Journey from Exhaustion to Wholeness
Watch the extended trailer
Everyone can access this film.
I’d love for everyone to access this film.
Don’t let the price be an obstacle to experiencing this. I’ve made it easier for you to immediately get a discounted rate with the codes below. Use these particularly if multiple people are engaging it in a group form.
Use the code WILD COUNTRY25 for a 25% discount
Use the code WILDCOUNTRY50 for a 50% discount
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