Solvitur ambulando!
It is solved by walking.
—Medieval saying attributed to St. Jereome
We spend way to much of our lives inside. Inside the walls of our office and home, we are wired but not connected; efficient but not at ease; instantly accessible to news but out of touch with our inner lives.
Cloistered with our keyboards and iphones, we navigate a world more and more absurd and live out of touch with What and with Whom we need to live well and be well.
In preparation for both Lent and leading the first, inaugural “Camino de Blue Ridge”, I’ve been re-familiarizing myself with what the famous folks have said the antidote to all the stress we are navigating on a daily basis. We, like sponges, are absorbing the crisis and tensions of a world gone mad and try make “ends meet” but wind up feeling more frayed than ever before. Take a look at just a few of the quotes, I’ve compiled in my reading recently on the benefits of walking and being outside. Click THIS link to read a few…
(By the way, the Camino is full but you can apply to be on the Waitlist).
This is one of the reasons that I compiled an exercise to offer us at this particular time of Lent. Regardless of what you think of Lent and your practices during Lent, let’s unlearn some of the things we’ve picked up along the way and start afresh.
This is my invitation to us during the next several weeks —prior to Easter. Here’s a tool that I’d encourage you to consider:
For 40 days, walk one mile a day and reflect on one of the 40 questions I pose to you to consider for Lent. It’s a 40 day journey and it just may be something that will right size you in the quickly changing world we are experiencing right now.
Why 40 days? 40 Days is the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, as we learn from the Gospel stories. The 40 Days of Lent replicate a wilderness journey, one of asking questions, reflection and prayer. As the days become longer in the Lenten Journey, we receive more light. The sun shines longer, giving more light and dispelling the long days of winter. Lent is often associated with giving something up during these 40 days—sugar, alcohol, activities and meetings, etc. The idea of giving up is meant to create space to allow one to focus and pray. In this exercise, we will give up some busyness, pre-occupation and mental overload in order to create some time to reflect, move outward and inward and focus on one question a day to help us prepare our hearts for resurrection.
40 Miles: An invitation to engage your body during Lent
In the 40 Days of Lent, set a side time to try to walk one mile a day—one mile per day for the 40 days of Lent. If walking is a challenge, find some way to engage your body by kneeling, laying on the floor, sitting outside or some other way you feel appropriate to engage your physical self.
Most people can expect to walk a mile in 15 to 22 minutes, according to data gathered in a 2019 study spanning five decades. The average walking pace is 2.5 to 4 mph, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the United States.
This is not a speed walk. This is a walk for the soul, so feel free to walk at a slower pace—a pace where you can hold a question in your heart as you walk.
Walking at a leisurely pace invites the mind to settle and the rhythm of one’s pace can be a therapeutic way to clear the heart as well. Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian wrote, “Above all, do not lost your desire to walk. Every day, I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”
Lent begins after Ash Wednesday on March 5 and continues until April 17, 2025.
Take a look. See what you think. Join me in this intentional journey to do something and start with ourselves. This way, as we prepare to change the world, we will begin with ourselves! This is how change is best done!
There’s a version offered for individuals and a version offered if you want your church or organization/small group to use this together!
Blessings in the Lenten Journey
Steve
WITHOUT READING I'M THANKFUL YOU ARE ENCOURAGING THIS AGAIN! It' a positive way to move through Lent. Blessings J