The gift of walking

A number of people have asked me what I have been doing during my sabbatical. My answer could include a lot of details and personal information, but the one thing I can confirm is this: I have done a lot of walking!

It seems that walking has been very good for my soul and my health. I have covered a lot of distance over the weeks of my sabbatical and each step has brough refreshing to my spirit. Of course, walking does tire you out physically, but it has the marvelous benefit of making you feel more alive and more in tune with God.  

If you enjoy walking, then you will know exactly what I mean - and it seems we are in great company too. Apparently, God was going for a walk in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were busy hiding from him (Genesis 3). Jesus was walking by the shore of Galilee when he encountered James and John (Mark 1).  

Soren Kierkegaard wrote...

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of wellbeing and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” 

Other well-known figures who speak highly of walking include: Stephen King, Anne Dillard, Charles Dickens, Bill Bryson, Thomas Jeferson, Hippocrates, and many, many more.

In time, I will share of my walking stories with you all, but in the meantime, may you be blessed! 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Blind courage

I have just finished reading a delightful book called Blind Courage. It is an autobiography of the epic trekking adventure of Bill Irwin. In 1990, Bill undertook the awesome challenge of walking the Appalachian Trail in North America. This adventure trail is over 2000 mile long (3600 km's) and crosses 14 American states. If this is not impressive enough for us, what is even more remarkable is that Bill walked the entire route blind! He needed the help of his guide-dog, Orient, but he managed to achieve what many seeing people can only dream of. It is an incredible feat.

At some point in the book Bill writes:

"I guess the Lord put me on the Trail with my blindness to let other people see what He could do. My job was to show up for work every day and walk as far as He gave me the strength to walk. God needed a weak man for that job, somebody who had to depend on Him for every step." 

There is so much in these words, and they could easily speak into our lives.

As we resolve to walk through our lives, may we learn to trust in the direction of our Lord.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Set up the markers and signs

All hikers know that when you are on the trail you need to look out for the cairns along the way. Once you have spotted them it is tradition that you add a rock to the pile - this is so that others may notice the cairn on their hiking adventure and also so that we can spot it on the way back. 

This is what Jeremiah was eluding too when he spoke to the people of Israel on their way to exile. He wanted them to remember their way back home.

"Set up road signs;
    put up guideposts.
Mark well the path
    by which you came.
Come back again, my virgin Israel;
    return to your towns here." - Jeremiah 31:21

What 'signposts' or 'cairns' help you find your way back to Jesus?

Eugene Peterson wrote -

“Set up signposts to mark your trip home. Get a good map.
Study the road conditions.
The road out is the road back.
Come back, dear virgin Israel,
come back to your hometowns."

Living in Grace

D3LM3