Several years ago my brother Daylen Bushman began a habit of Sunday morning walks that resulted in deep inner peace. This simple intentional act yields a bountiful harvest for him, and I wanted to share his thoughts with you.
Peace by Daylen Bushman
I love Sunday mornings. For the past several years, I have been waking up early on Sunday mornings to go for an hour-long walk. I am a pretty fast walker and typically cover four miles during my hour-long walk. I have dozens of different paths that lead me two miles out and two miles back home.
Sometimes it rains. Sometimes it snows. Sometimes it is really cold. Sometimes it is perfect. Sometimes my kids or brother accompany me, but most of the time it’s just me.
I love these Sunday morning walks. There is a peace in nature carried on the cool breeze before the sun peaks over the mountains and before the roads are filled with people and cars hustling and bustling to various destinations. The natural tranquility calms my spirit and rejuvenates my soul.
My weekly walk has become an integral part of my communion with the Lord. As Enos stated in Enos 1:4, my “soul hungers” for the peace and comfort that comes from our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I share with Them the “struggles of my spirit” (Enos 1:10) and seek the simple but powerful whisperings of the Holy Ghost that let me know They are here – watching, listening, and participating with me in this life.
I often ponder scriptures I have read or talks I have listened to in relation to the various happenings in my life. I review work and job opportunities and listen for guidance from the Spirit. I pray for my family and the trials and temptations they may be navigating.
I pled with the Lord when my father was intubated and in the ICU from complications with Covid. I shared the mixed emotions of joy and sadness of having my oldest son leave us to serve a mission (joy of him deciding to serve the Lord and the many people he will meet and sadness for selfishly missing him while he is gone.) I share the matters that fill my mind, but primarily, I am simply looking for peace.
Sunday Morning Walks Yield Peace
Our lives are filled with calendars, schedules, worries, trials, and commotion. Each of us experiences accomplishments, trials, sorrows, pain, joy, happiness, loneliness, and love. While none of us are immune from challenges we face in this life, the love of Christ can be our vaccination against the ills we encounter.
As the sons of Mosiah concluded their preparations for their missions and were about to split up into their different mission fields among the Lamanites, Alma 17:10 tells us that the “Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. AND THEY WERE COMFORTED” (emphasis added.) I love the definitive power in those four words. “AND THEY WERE COMFORTED.”
I yearn for the comfort of the Savior in my life and ask for it daily. I haven’t skipped a “Sunday walk” in over three years. It is a simple way for me to find peace and perspective in my life. We can all find peace in the words of Christ in John 14:18, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
Our leaders have recently challenged us to HEAR HIM. I’d also offer the challenge to BELIEVE HIM. Believe that He will not leave you comfortless. Believe that He will come to you. Believe that you “can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13.) Believe that He loves you. He will give you peace.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27.)
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