Walking the Way (week 6&7 of 2025)

Walking has its own rhythm. The lungs breathe, the arms sway, the knees bend, the ankles and toes are like little propellers pulled by tendons pushing forward. Sometimes there is strain which slows down the pace and sometimes the pace speeds up.

Terrain has a lot to do with the progress of a walk. The hills making compelling arguments for slowing as the steepness works against the body. Then there is the rush of downhill unless you have meniscus or arthritis problems. Rocks, stones, debris add adventure to the path. Water, wind, snow and hail sure do inform the journey. The surface plays a role. The moment by moment time frame is constant discovery.

Yes, walking helps you discover good things and we all know and readily discuss the good things discovered through walking. Walking also helps us discover problems and although we don’t enjoy talking about those problems and the pain that ensues, we all know about it.

Pain in the body seems to show itself during a good walk. Of course in some cases it goes away, remember the sports managers/ coaches saying, “walk it off, you’ll be alright.” Of course as life proceeds you realize that there are things you cannot “walk off.”

You can’t “walk off” some illnesses. You can’t walk off a broken heart. They say, “you can’t” but maybe you can, in some cases. Take for instance Forest Gump, of course in his case it’s a slow jog which could be classified as speed walking.

Forest Gump is a character in a war film of the same name. It doesn’t seem to be a war film but it is. The pain and confusion of the Vietnam War are everywhere in the film. At one point Gump just starts running, like I said it’s a pretty slow run almost a walk, and he walk/runs across America. And one day, “just like that” he stops. Somehow he seems better, maybe even healed. But what’s he healed from? Maybe it’s loss, Gump loses a lot of friends, his innocence, his family. He never seems to lose hope. The movie concludes with the hope of daily discovery.

Walking provides daily discovery, but the hope provided through daily discovery is pretty shallow. Discovery can only take you so far. Discovery in and of itself in a perpetual loop can often lead to hopelessness. Hopelessness leads directly to despair. And despair is the path of death itself.

The path of despair is not something any of us want to walk down. In fact it even hurts to see others walk down that path. Some are able to get off of that path, yet it seems as if suicide is the end of that road for many. Suicide is so damaging and maybe there is more to it than simply the ideology, ideation, and act itself. Maybe it’s the “walk of life.”Maybe the “walk of life” is something we ought to focus on more often than we do.

When I first heard the terminology “Walk Of Life,” I was listening to the British rock band Dire Straits, they had a song with the title, “Walk Of Life.” Previously, I had been listening to “Walk This Way,” by the American rock band Aerosmith. Later in life the Irish rock band U2 would put out a song called, “Walk On.” Of course one of my earliest childhood memories is the lyrics from a hymn titled, “In The Garden.” The lyrics from that song that stand out to me are, “…and He walks with me and He talks with the me, and He tells me I am His own…” it is in reference to the Christian walk. It is a reference to a person walking with Jesus.

What is the point of the Christian walk or “walking with Jesus?” The point is unity. It begins with Christ. He is the God/ man who died to reconcile all mankind with God. By reconcile I am referring to the act of making all shortcomings and faults to become of no eternal consequence. In other words Christ takes all the consequences of everything that is wrong in a persons life so that nothing damning or damaging stands between that person and the holiness of God. At that point unity is complete. That is the point of the “Christian Walk.”

So, exactly what is the “Christian Walk?” The big theological term that comes to mind is sanctification. It refers to the daily, “get up and do.” It’s about action. The things done by Christian’s (those who follow and believe in Christ). Between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle James we glean that belief and works merge into a daily lifestyle or as some would suggest a daily walk.

The daily Christian walk is characterized by Joy in Christ yet often that joy is diminished due to the ups and downs of life. The joy of God’s salvation through Christ is immeasurable yet we tend to lose it from time to time due to distractions and sin. Now sin is simply missing the mark and that is the opposite of holiness. So, when a person stumbles into sin or falls away from that which is good, pure, holy, something has to be done about it. There are consequences to those actions. That is where Christ comes in. Christ takes the eternal consequences of those actions upon Himself. Thus we who follow Christ and identify as Christians are free. Free to walk the Christian life.

“Walking of the Christian life” is a complete metaphor for living and dying as a believer in Christ. It’s not simply a mind belief, it is an action belief. That is why the word walk is applied to the Christian’s life.

And what a walk it is. Some personal aspects that I have noticed about this walk are complex. I believe but sometimes I doubt. I chose to do what I know is right yet sometimes I chose to do what is wrong. I hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I tend to forget about the power of prayer. Human I am yet Christ lives in me and sometimes that just makes no sense. Sometime I walk the walk and talk the talk, but there are times when I stumble and fall.

I was at the Pilgrims Mass at the Cathedral in Santiago after walking the Camino when I heard this walk best described. The priest reminded the congregation that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). It was ironic because the Camino de Santiago is often referred to as “The Way.” The priest went on to say, “ Just as Jesus has brought you here, through all the hardships of your journey, He will also bring you home.” He went on to encourage us to continue our walk with and through Christ. I have thought about that many times over the last couple of years. One day Christ will bring me home. The old hymn lyrics from my childhood memories ring congruent, “this world is not my home, I’m just a passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue, the angels beckon me to heavens open door and I don’t feel at home in this world any more.”

A couple of brothers and myself are planning on walking the Portuguese side of the Camino de Santiago this Spring. It’s a tough walk. It’s a long walk. It’s a rewarding walk.

These walks are much like life itself. Will I get through? (knowing full well no one gets out alive) Will I get hurt? (Knowing full well that pain and suffering are eventually part of everyone’s life) Will I be able to do it? (Knowing full well that doubt and fear are the named enemies of faith and joy) Will it be all right? (Knowing that Christ is with me and will not forsake me and that because of Him it will be all right. )

So each day I am walking getting ready for the Camino. Each day I am walking getting ready to be with God my Father in Heaven. Each day I am planning what I need to carry. Each day I evaluate the stewardship of the stuff with which I have been entrusted. Each day I am getting closer to that departure date. Each day I am getting closer to going from this life into the next.

There is another hymn whose lyrics sing, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness…” I too have that hope. Hopefully I’m falling into the rhythm of that type of daily walk. Less me, more Christ, more of The Way, more of the Truth, more of the Christian Life.