Photo by Jad Limcaco on Unsplash

When we started our summer series Summer Reset: Reevaluating our Spiritual Rhythms, one of the rhythms we talked about was the practice of walking. Yet, as we wrapped up our series on Sunday, if you’ve been following along, you know that we didn’t talk about walking. 

We planned to do it on July 24th when I came back from my summer preaching break, but I felt like we needed to spend a week on the rhythm of letting go and talking about what we’ve lost in these last few years. 

In light of that, I wanted to write about the spiritual rhythm of walking. One of the books that was helpful to me on the topic was Mark Buchanan’s book, God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul.

Why walk? What are the benefits of walking as a spiritual rhythm?

Here are a few:

Perspective. Have you ever had a heated discussion with someone, and you both got up and went to separate spaces to collect your thoughts and catch your breath? That’s one thing walking does. It creates distance. After a walk, I often feel clarity about things that were once foggy. 

Silence. Coupled with perspective, it gives us silence. One of the things I think is vital with walking is to do it without your phone. Yes, walking can be a great time to listen to worship music or a podcast, and I’d encourage you to do that with this practice, but it is also a great time to get some silence, to listen to the breeze and nature, and still your soul and the voices running around in your head. 

This silence allows you to hear God’s voice, get a sense of what He is doing or directing you, and pray about things. 

Processing things. Moving is a great way to process and move items around in your head. It helps you to be more creative, let go of things and make better decisions. 

Health. Walking thirty minutes a day, getting your 10,000 steps in, is one of the best things you can do for your health, no matter your age. David Sautter,  a NASM-certified personal trainer at Top Fitness, said, “A sedentary lifestyle is how muscle and connective tissue atrophies. Impact movement, such as walking, helps to provide the stimulus needed for maintaining muscle and tissue density.” And according to the Arthritis Foundation, “Walking is one of the most important things you can do if you have arthritis. It helps you lose weight or maintain the proper weight. That, in turn, lessens joint stress and improves arthritis symptoms.” 

Slow us down. One of the things we see in the gospels is Jesus walked everywhere, and as we walk it slows us down. Our world moves quickly and our bodies are not created to move at the speed we often run. This is why we love nature, getting away, and breathing deeply in the mountain or ocean air. 

We need to slow down, and walking is one of the ways we do that.