Be a saunterer

To saunter is to walk slowly and in a relaxed manner. This word is a reminder to me that we are called to follow Christ in a deliberate manner, but also to notice all that is around us. If our walking is purely about clocking a certain time, we may lose the opportunity to reflect on why we are walking.

John Muir writes: "...back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked, where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre (to the Holy Land)." And so, they became known as saint-terre-ers or saunterers. 

Walking in the footsteps of Jesus is like going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We are not going on a hike or passing awhile time, we are SAUNTERERS. 

3 John 1: 4 - "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Living in Grace

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Walking in Grace

We need a lot of grace at this moment in time. There is so much going on around us, that many of us are tempted to lay down the gift of grace, in exchange for the weapons of hate. If you are looking for a scripture to guide you into the rest of 2025, look no further than 1 Peter 4.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." - 1 Peter 4:8-11

Thought: What does it mean for us to be faithful stewards of God's grace? Living and walking in Grace is a hard choice, but I really want to stick to this call.

Living in Grace

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Watch where you are walking

When you are out walking or running it is important to make sure you are watching where you are going. This is not just in terms of your overall direction, but also to be aware of where you place your feet. It may seem like a simple process to follow, but it can be so tricky at times. If you look too far into the distance you can step into a hole or catch your foot on a rock. It takes skill to keep both the distance, and the path, firmly in your eyesight. 

Is this perhaps what the writer of Proverbs 4 is suggesting?

"Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil." - Proverbs 4:25-27

Thought: How are you managing with your spiritual walk at the moment? Are you perhaps looking too far into the distance and missing the individual steps you need to take right now? OR, is your vision so consumed with a small step in front, that you have forgotten to look to where you are heading?

Living in Grace

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Walking with a limp

I was reading a quote from Brian McLaren, that spoke of 'admitting that we walk with a limp.' It was in the context of speaking of Church Orthodoxy and Faith, but I like the concept he was suggesting. 

How often do we, as Christians, pretend that all is well and that we have all things figured out? We do this to cover up our own questions, fears and failings. It is as if we carry an injury with us, but we are too proud to walk with the limp - we want to give the impression that we are strong and healthy. Yet, that is living a lie.

The longer I serve Jesus, the more I see that indeed I walk with a limp. I am wounded and God is okay with my wounds. I will keep following in the ways of Jesus, even if I walk with a spiritual limp. 

As we reflect on this, we are drawn to the familiar story of Jacob. We find it in Genesis 31:

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip."

If God could walk with Jacob, and still choose him to become Israel (Genesis 32:28), then we are in great company.

Thought: Don't be afraid to walk in the footsteps of Christ, even if your walk is not perfect.

Living in Grace

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Walking with a friend in the dark

Helen Keller observed that “walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”

Being a friend to someone who is experiencing suffering is a hard thing to do, but very necessary. I am grateful that we are able to turn to Christ as he walks with us in our times of testing and pain.

Daniel 3:24-25 - "Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Thought: Do you need to walk alongside someone at the moment? 

Living in Grace

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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

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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

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Camino tales

People of all ages love to listen to stories (well most of us anyway). As children we are encouraged to use our imagination and to place ourselves into the stories we read or listen to. As I mentioned yesterday, I am super excited to enter into the story of the Camino de Santiago and to listen to the stories of thousands of pilgrims who have walked the path before us. 

Of course, literature is full of classic stories of Pilgrimage, and one doesn't have to physically walk the miles in order to experience something of the journey. Two of the more popular books in this regard, Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer) and Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan) tell of people making a journey of spiritual discovery. And of course, the Scriptures are also filled with accounts of the Israelites walking to the Promised Land, recounting stories of life, faith, trial and joy - all as the travel along the ancient paths to their end goal. 

If you didn't know this already, The Canterbury Tales, were crafted by Chaucer as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims travelling towards Canterbury. They were on a journey to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket, which was housed in the famous Cathedral. Apparently, the prize for the best tale was a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

To be honest, I am not really interested in any particular prize (not that there is really a prize), except for the joy of completing the walk, encountering fellow pilgrims along the way, enjoying God's presence and discovering more about myself. 

I will let you know if I get the prize in the end.

"We are invited to make a pilgrimage – into the heart and life of God." - Dallas Willard

I want to enter the story of the Camino, so that I can reconnect with my part in the Greater Story. 

Living in Grace

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The Camino de Santiago

The idea of walking the Camino has been in my mind for a while now and I am so excited to have the opportunity to fulfil this dream. This week is the week that we get to tick 'The Camino' off our bucket list.

In truth, I can't tell you exactly when I first heard about the Camino de Santiago, but the very idea of going on this pilgrimage has remained in my heart for ages. Every person I have spoken to, who has walked a part of the Way, has beamed when relating their own experiences and I hope to be one of those people in the future.

For those of you who may not know too much about El Camino, it is quite simply a pilgrimage (usually walking) that ends up in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This is the place where the remains of James (Jesus' disciple, the son of Zebedee) are supposedly buried.  When translated, the name Santiago de Compostela means 'Saint James, in the field of stars.'

Sounds simple hey? Well, not exactly ....

In order to officially complete the pilgrimage, you need to walk a minimum of 100km's on any of the official routes and end up in Santiago. We will be walking on the Camino Primitivo route, which is the original pilgrim route in Northern part of Spain, and we should be covering a distance of close on 250km's. 

For us, the idea is to walk, to pray, to contemplate, to listen and to connect with God again. I know that one doesn't have to travel half-way around the world to do these things, but there is something special about doing it in the footsteps of millions of others. 

I will try and write a little more in the next few days, before we leave, but I would appreciate your prayers as we head out into this great adventure. It is my prayer that we would have our own Emmaus Road encounter (Luke 24) - and meet Christ as we walk and reflect. 

In 1604, Sir Walter Raleigh wrote: 

"Give me my scallop of quiet,
my staff of faith to walk upon,
my scrip of joy, immortal diet,
my bottle of salvation,
my gown of glory, hope's true gage,
and thus I'll take my pilgrimage."

Living in Grace

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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

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Slowing down

 

A line from author Brennan Manning has been sitting with me this week. It goes like this:

"In prayer we slow down to a human tempo and make time to listen."

I agree with this sentiment in some ways, but I would disagree on this key point. I don't feel that we should slow down to 'human' tempo, but rather to God's tempo. The tempo of us as humans seems to be way too frantic, and God's time always seems to be unrushed. 

The season of Lent urges us to slow down and to make time to listen for the voice of God.

2 Peter 3:9 - "The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think."

What tempo are you finding yourself in at this stage in your life?

Living in Grace

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What kind of feet do you have?

 

 

"At one time Peter had wayward feet, but Andrew brought him to Jesus.

And then one night Peter had some wet feet because he was walking on the water.

Then he had washed feet when Jesus knelt before him and washed his feet (John 13).

He had wandering feet when he denied the Lord. 

(However, in the end he had willing feet.)

What kind of feet do you have?"  - W. Wiersbe

If this little piece makes any sense for us, let it be a challenge as to how we walk with Christ in the days ahead. Even though Peter wasn't always perfect he had the most willing 'feet' out of all the disciples. He was willing to go wherever Jesus went.

Mark 10:28 - Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

Living in Grace

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Strong Shoes

I came across this really great quote recently:

“If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.” - Unknown

Have your shoes ever broken when you have been walking or hiking? I have had that experience once before and it proved to be trickier than one can imagine. Hiking over boulders, sharp stones, overgrown paths and even across rivers is not fun barefoot. Choosing the right footgear to hike is crucial.

We all know that life is like being on a hike - it is not all easy going, smooth paths and downhills. It can be tough. So, my prayer for you is that if God allows us to walk down difficult paths, then may he also provide you with strong "shoes."

Living in Grace
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