How long has it been since you took a simple walk?
I think there is more benefit in the act of putting one foot in front of the other than we may realize. This isn’t about physical fitness. It’s about mental and spiritual well-being.
I live in a house that is also inhabited by a very social wife (not saying “blabby,” mind you) and three children under the age of 12. In other words, my home is rarely quiet. With the chirping of various handheld video game players and the blaring of multiple TVs and stereo systems mingling with discussions of the next day’s logistics and the running, chasing, giggling, and squabbling going on upstairs (amplified 10-fold downstairs), the decibel level of our home is akin to that of Bridgestone Arena when the Predators score on a power play during a playoff game.
Except louder and more sustained.
One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 46:10 — Be still and know that I am God. This is easier said than done in modern America. I doubt that our Lord and Creator is exactly thrilled that he has to compete with Super Smash Brothers, Elmo’s World, “Call Me, Maybe,” and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on a daily basis.
So today, I said enough is enough and proclaimed in an authoritative, Clark Griswold voice that we were going for a walk on the Greenway. DS players were forbidden. (Sam, our 11-year-old, managed to smuggle an iPod into the van before I realized what was happening, though.)
We drove to a section of the Greenway — a paved pedestrian walkway that snakes for several miles around Murfreesboro along Stones River — and hit the trail.
It was wonderful.
We strolled for a mile or so through the Middle Tennessee hardwoods and had simple fun just watching grasshoppers flutter up in front of us, spotting wild turkeys and great blue herons, and “bowling” with osage-orange fruits. A few belted Galloway cows and their donkey pasture-mates watched impassively as we mooed and brayed at them. (I think they suspected that were weren’t actually cows or donkeys at all.) Sam and Ava picked at each other playfully and Pete tested out his brand-new sneakers for speed. Holly and I held hands and enjoyed each other.
We got out of a man-made house and into a God-made house. We used our feet and took advantage of our good health. We made a nice little memory for the kids.
Time well-spent. Be still and know that I am God.
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| Walking in God’s house. |
I have always marveled at your way with words, Mark! And thank you…right now I am being still. Lynnie Foster
Mostly, I walk by myself. Mostly, I walk to try to control the spread around my middle, with earphones and disco music. But yes, I do know about a walk – no electronics – in the park, on a hike. Just enjoying the trees moving and the birds tweeting, the leaves skittering across the grass or the sun going in/out from behind the clouds. I must do this more often.