My wife and I love our walks in Montana. We get out every day if possible, even if that means snowshoes. It has become as much a spiritual exercise as it is physical. It is becoming, more and more, a prayer walk.
I wonder what it would be like to ‘walk with’ God. It’s a recurring theme in the Bible, all the way back to Genesis 3:8. Despite the disconnect between us and God, we read that Enoch, Noah and Abraham all did just that, all walked with God.
Just yesterday, I walked with my wife. She’s not God but she’s godly, wise and soulful. We listened to each other and shared stories. But mainly we walked, slowly and quietly, through a stretch of woodland. We did it, just to be within it, together.
We gave ourselves time to be immersed in the place. The mud beneath our feet hinted of winter’s departure, just as a robin flew by, heralding the renewal of spring. It was really beautiful and didn’t need dissecting, just beholding. Our hearts and minds seemed more clear somehow, as if the wind had blown some of the clutter away.
“Solvitur ambulando.” The latin phrase, usually credited to St. Augustine, simply means, “It is solved by walking.” I wonder, what is solved? Perhaps you can only find out by trying.
Jesus was a pedestrian. In the Bible, it is less common to find him preaching in the Temple, than it is walking. Surely that’s no accident.
He walked out into the desert to be tempted.
It was when he was walking by the sea of Galilee that he saw two brothers. “Come and follow me,” he said.
Jesus even walked on water.
It was when he was walking along the road that a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go ...”
Jesus walked out of the city, up to Golgotha, stumbling, all the Way of Love ... to his death.
And he walked back into life again, with those two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
“The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked,” wrote the apostle John (1 John 2:6, NASB). Interesting use of the word. I wonder why John used it.
What is it that you are trying to solve currently in this Easter season? Perhaps it’s time to get out on a walk. And not just any walk - invite Jesus along and walk the Way of Love.
Keep walking. Solvitur ambulando. May it be so, for you today.
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