\u201cJesus walked this lonesome valley\/he had to walk it by himself\/O nobody else could walk it for him\/he had to walk it by himself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n These old words from a gospel song are the words that arise for me in the Lenten season. It is about walking for me this year. It is not that I believe in and practice a completely private and solitary spirituality, but that this season of the Church year is the time for me to pay attention to my own being that I bring to the community, thoughts and actions for which I am uniquely and solely responsible that all contribute to the intended rule of God.<\/p>\n Walking is something I resist with amazing cunning and power. I read, along with everyone else, about the dramatic changes that a little walking can make in a person\u2019s overall health. Yet I would rather do almost anything else. However, in Church a few Sundays ago in the reading from Hebrew scripture, Naaman\u2019s servant said to him, \u201cIf the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it?\u201d<\/em> (2 Kngs. 5:13). And the word for me was clear; if walking is one of the things that contributes to my health as an embodied person of Spirit, why would I not do something easy, something accessible, something healthy for God\u2019s sake? So this Lent I am walking every day\u2013around my labyrinth, around my block, down the parking lot, up the boardwalk\u2013for God\u2019s sake and my own.<\/p>\n And Jesus walked, maybe as much for location and culture as for Spirit. But much of his teaching and presence was done while walking. But Jesus also uses walking as a prescription for wholeness. One of the most compelling stories that appears in John\u2019s gospel takes place by the pool called Bethzatha: a man has been lying these for 38 years trying to be healed. Jesus asks him, \u201cDo you want to be made well?\u201d<\/em> (John 5:6). This question has been a constant one in my ongoing examination of conscience for many years now; do I want to be healed of the things that make me less than whole\u2013my wounds? my judgmental attitudes, my cherished lists of hurts and slights? I believe that I do want to be healed of those things, and made it a spiritual practice to participate with healers in the work of transformation that the Spirit is doing in me. So, Jesus says, \u201cStand up, take your mat and walk.\u201d <\/em>It\u2019s about the walking, the moving off the stuck place, the getting out of the toxic place, the pool of self doubt and self-pity.<\/p>\n In researching the Lenten Walk, I am also so noticing that many older translations of New Testament scriptures that use the word \u201cwalk\u201d are now translated \u201clive\u201d in more modern translations. Maybe walking is an facet of living that I will encounter in undertaking this practice. Will there be \u201cresults\u201d to this walk\u2013lower blood pressure, lost pounds, more flexible joint? or will I have creative and mystical thoughts that I can bring to my various ministries? or will I see through a new lens God\u2019s multifaceted and variegated world broaden and deepen my heart to love what God loves? \u00a0 I don\u2019t know. All I know as I begin this season is that am walking\/living with the Holy One.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cJesus walked this lonesome valley\/he had to walk it by himself\/O nobody else could walk it for him\/he had to walk it by himself.\u201d These old words from a gospel song are the words that arise for me in the Lenten season. It is about walking for me this year. It is not that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4707,1399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","category-spiritual-practice"],"yoast_head":"\n