Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise. Ephesians 5:15
Joyce and I are walkers. We have been for a long time. It serves as our exercise,
provides therapy, and gives occasion for some of our best conversations. We stand, or
rather, walk, in a long line of those who have discovered the wonder of this practice.
Ghandi walked more than six miles every day for forty years.
Given the benefits and convenience of walking, it is not surprising that it came to be a
metaphor for life itself. The Apostle Paul, who no doubt did quite a bit of walking
himself, wrote to the Ephesian church, Therefore be careful how you walk, not as
unwise men but as wise… (Ephesians 5.15).
This almost universal image of one’s walk as the whole manner of one’s living flows
from some very natural observations. Walking is dynamic. Even if one walks backwards
one is going someplace--one’s location changes. Walking is deliberate. Walking
requires a certain amount of skill (a toddler must learn to walk). Walking requires an
investment of both time and energy, even a certain amount of concentration (you can do almost as much damage texting while walking as while driving). Walking is a
tremendous gift. Most of us know someone or of someone who, after a serious illness or
accident has been told they may not walk again.
There is a humility in walking that is marvelously refreshing. When one is walking one
tends to become part of the environment rather than stand out. The famous outlaw
Charles E Boles, known as Black Bart, robbed at least twenty-eight stage coaches in
northern California, Nevada and Oregon. He evaded capture in part because he walked
all the way from his home in San Francisco to the location of each robbery. Nobody
noticed him.
Walking removes the illusion that we are above what we are, creatures made of the dust of this earth. Made in His image, graciously saved, redeemed and filled with His Spirit, but still man, who is made of dust. When we walk our feet remind us of our connection to the earth. And walking reminds us that the best is yet to come. Life may be difficult, even seem overwhelming, but for the believer we know that rest will come at last.
I think most would agree that Jesus likely walked most places He went. The Triumphant
Entry into Jerusalem stood out in part because it was the exception. The image of
Jesus, God Incarnate, walking, His feet alternately rising from and falling back onto the
surface of our Earth, the motion stirring up the dust of our world, make the reality of His
presence so clear to us.
So we walk, both figuratively and literally, through this life. It is both chore and delight. I
thank God that He gives me the health and stamina to do so. I pray that along the way I
learn the lessons it has to offer.
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