Have you ever gone on a walk about? Maybe not the Australian style Walkabout, but maybe you just felt you needed to go on a walk to clear your head or to have some time to think about things. I can attest that going on a walk is usually good for what ails you or even just to help you feel better if you are not sure. I often say that walking is the best form of exercise whether you are eight or eighty years old, as it’s fairly low impact and you can adjust the dosage quite easily. Walking is also pretty adaptable as it can be done solo, just you alone with your thoughts and God, or it can be a social activity, with you and your spouse or a friend and a conversation of up to many hours long. I have a couple of retired friends who go walking around town for several miles most evenings and I always have great conversations and a good workout when I have joined them on these excursions. When I was in college, a professor friend would go for a 3 mile jog most afternoons around 4 pm and I would often join him once or twice each week for a more challenging conversation with a workout. There are lots of things you can do on your walks, and many of them can be beneficial to your health and well being.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9
While walking to help clear your head can be helpful in some ways, there are other things you can do while walking, or even sitting still that can be beneficial as well. Under the umbrella of spiritual disciplines that you can practice to help you grow in your faith may be included Prayer, Meditation, and reading the Word. At this time of year, there are often several opportunities to go on prayer walks with others to pray for schools in your community. Its a practice of just walking around a school campus while praying for those that will be educated in these places over the coming year. You may not know any of these teachers or students, but God does and hears your prayers for them. This is a practice you can do in most any place, and helps take the focus off your needs and allows you to petition God for the needs of others. There was a time when I was visiting several state capitals and praying for the lawmakers and people in these states as I walked through and around the capitol buildings. It is something I still do when able today. Time spent walking can be a regular prayer time, or a time to listen to scripture if you have an audio device to play as you go, or it can be a time just to listen to God and/or meditate on what He has been speaking to you. There are lots of possibilities that may feel unnatural at first, but that can build up your spirit if you allow as well.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
Whether or not you start some new spiritual disciplines on you walks is up to you, but in the long run, you want to do things that are beneficial to you and to others, and in my experience these things whether combined or done on their own have almost always proven helpful in my life. The other thing that has helped is accountability. When you meet regularly with someone, whether walking around your neighborhood, or at the mall twice a week, it can be helpful to motivate you to still go when you don’t feel up for it, or have lots of excuses running through your head. Having a consistent time to get in the word, to pray, to exercise, and to socialize are all things that can be helpful to your physical, spiritual, and mental health, whether combined or done on their own. May you continue to find new ways to challenge your complacency and grow in your faith each and every day!
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
Yours in Christ,
Clark
