Go For A Walk
Dear Friends and Family of Hilton Baptist Church,
I couldn’t take it anymore. I was tired of being stuck inside, the four walls were getting smaller and I had a bad case of cabin fever. Even though the weather beyond my window was gray and drizzly, I had to get outside. I needed to be outdoors even if it meant tolerating weather that was wet and less than pleasant. I put on warm clothes and told Karen, “I’m going for a walk.” When she asked “Where are you going?” I simply answered “I don’t know, wherever my feet take me” and out the door I went.
I remember a long time ago, someone from our church shared a Sunday sermon entitled “I went for a walk”. I do not recall the entire message but I believe the basic point was that this person went for a walk and in the process found some of the “clutter” removed from their thoughts. Walking outdoors gave this person, literally and figuratively, a breath of fresh air. Their priorities became clearer and God felt nearer. If I am not remembering this message correctly my apologies to the person who preached it!
I found this to be true as I took my own little stroll. Somehow the rain seemed to gently wash away some of the “clutter” that had accumulated in my brain. The cabin fever seemed to retreat and dissipate as thousands of water droplets continued their calm assault of grace. Stepping in muddy pools of water ironically made my thoughts seem less ‘muddy’.
The sound of rain was something else I noticed during my walk. For most of us, we know what rain sounds like: pat, pat, pat; plop, plop, plop; drip, drip, drip. However, this time I heard something different than usual; it sounded like hundreds of clapping hands. Every drop was a single voice in a chorus of celebration. Next time you find yourself in the rain, listen closely and maybe you will hear it too. Why the celebration? Well, that is what you will need to discover for yourself.
Would I have preferred a sunny day with blue skies and singing birds? Absolutely. Would I have had the same experience? Maybe not.
I share this story with you because soon we will be entering the season of Lent. Henri Nouwen once wrote “During Lent, we wait in the desert of solitude for new life to be revealed. 1” Lent is a good time to take a walk. Lent is a time to listen, to step into the muddy waters and find ourselves somehow less muddy, to place ourselves in a place where we are vulnerable to the calm relentless assault of God’s grace. Lent is a time to wait ‘for new life to be revealed.’
During Lent, I invite you to take a walk. Maybe not a literal, physical walk but a walk of the soul (although if you are able to take a walk you may find it to be physically and spiritually beneficial).
Every Sunday throughout Lent, we will learn “Holy Lessons from the Holy Land.” We will take a figurative walk through the Holy Land making some stops along the way. Maybe these holy lessons will be helpful for you to be in the moment and simply listen. Perhaps you might want to take one idea and carry it with you through the week as you find yourself stepping in muddy puddles and ‘waiting for new life to be revealed’.
By going for a walk, you may just learn how to be still. And by learning to be still, you may just learn how to walk. To loosely quote Jesus, “Go and learn what this means….”
With you in Christ,
Dan
1 Nouwen, Henri J.M. Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life. HarperOne Publishers. New York, NY. 2013. Page 150
Categories: Pastors Message