“God walks “slowly” because he is love. If he is not love he would move much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow” and yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love. It goes on in the depths of our life whether we notice it or not.”
Why ‘physical’ Walking?
Mark Buchanan in his book, God Walk: Moving at the Speed of your Soul (2020) makes his argument as follows (I have summarised and paired down for our purposes. Highlights are also mine). “The seed of this book was annoyance, or grief, or something in between. . .many spiritual traditions have a corresponding physical discipline and Christianity has none. Hinduism has yoga. Taoism has tai chi. Shintoism has karate. Buddhism has kung fu. Confucianism has hapkido. Sikhism has gatka.
Christianity has nothing. This is odd. The very core of Christian faith is incarnation‒God’s coming among us as one of us to walk with us. . .and every part of Christian faith seeks embodiment, a way of being lived out here, now, in person. Gnosticism (which says the body doesn’t matter‒or worse, it’s evil) is incarnation’s mortal enemy. . .so it’s odd: that a faith so inescapably incarnational, never developed a matching physical discipline to help its followers yoke their faith to practice: body to mind, holiness to breath, thought to movement, the inward to the outward. . .except did it? Did Christian faith have a corresponding physical discipline, then lost it? . . . I’m going to argue that this discipline is the oldest and simplest practice around. It’s walking.
It started very early with God in the habit of walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Likely, he invited our first parents to join him, until that terrible day when they ran away and hid instead. Even after that, holiness and walking with God were the same thing. “Enoch walked with God . . . Noah . . . walked with God” (Gen. 5:22; 6:9). Later Micah asks, “What does God require of you?” And the third thing he mentions (the single activity that makes ‘loving mercy and doing justice’ possible) is, “to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:6-8). Later still, Paul says, “Walk in the way of love…” (Eph. 5:1-2). Walking is a primary way of knowing God.
“The most obvious thing about Jesus’ method of discipleship and ministry is that he walked and invited others to walk with him. Jesus is always “on the way,” “arriving,” “leaving,” “approaching,” “coming upon.” It’s in the walking that his disciples are taught, formed, tested, empowered, and released.
Whether you are walking around the neighbourhood or hiking in the mountains, walking awakens your life with Christ as it revives body and soul. God Walk explores walking as spiritual formation, walking as healing, walking as exercise, walking as prayer, walking as pilgrimage, suffering, friendship, attentiveness, and more . . .alongside the God who, incarnate in Jesus, turns to us as he passes by‒always on foot‒and says simply, “Come, follow me.”
The Greatest Benefit
“Of all the benefits of walking, the greatest one, I think, is slowing down: slowing down to catch up‒to get alongside the three-mile-an-hour God, to move at the speed of our souls, to pay attention to the world within and without, to savour moments and presence, to listen well and remember well, to dream afresh” (page 203 of a chapter entitled, For those who can’t walk).
Some suggestions as a Practice (do at least one before the 31st)
· Walk from your home around the neighbourhood. Pray for the homes as you walk past. Ask God to open up opportunities to meet more neighbours, become aware of needs.
· Walk along a route that is refreshing for your soul (like Alphen Trail or Constantia Nek or…). Take your time so you can pay closer attention to nature, the sights, sounds and smells. Enjoy your Creator as you marvel at His creation.
· Invite someone to walk with you (maybe along the beach or in the mountain). Also, think of someone going through a tough time, it’s interesting how the conversation can be so different to sitting across the table from someone. In the Lord of the Rings, Sam insists on going with on the journey to Mordor, “I will go with you Mr. Frodo.” “The friendship really starts when they walk into the deepening darkness with little hope that they will ever make it back to the light . . .Later, when the weight of the task gets too heavy for Frodo, Sam says, “I can’t carry the ring, Mr Frodo, but I can carry you.” And he does” (Buchanan, page 95).
· Walk somewhere where you would normally take transport. Walk to church one Sunday even! Like millions of people do all over the world because they either have no other mode of transport or cannot afford it. You’ll hear conversations and see things that you are normally rushing past.
As you do these walks, be aware of Jesus walking with you. How would He see things? What does He want you to see or notice? How do you think the conversation would go?
Imagine Jesus walking with His disciples from one town to another. . . exiting Jericho with the blind man calling out for His attention. . . walking and talking with the two on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection…