Walk It Off!
I have a friend whose father was a very popular athletic coach at Point Loma High School, the same high school my kids attended. Although I met this coach a couple of times I never had the opportunity to really get to know him. I attended this coach's memorial service at the invitation of his daughter. I was moved by the wonderful things people said about him. One of the things said about him by one of his family members is that whenever someone hurt themselves whether on the athletic field or pretty much anywhere he would say, “walk it off.” There were lots of laughs shared about his walk it off advice but it got me thinking about the wisdom of those words.
There is something healing, and therapeutic, and dare I say spiritual about walking. I looked up the word walk and walking in my Bible concordance and discovered walking is a very popular word in the Bible. Walking is used literally and often metaphorically in the Bible. In Genesis 3:8 it talks about God walking through the garden of Eden in the cool of the day. I’m trying to imagine God walking through the garden. Just for the record I think I have a pretty cool walk. I’ve been working on it all my life. I’m also sure that if I saw God taking a walk I would discover his walk is way cooler than mine which means I would start walking like God. I think there might be a sermon in there somewhere.
In John chapter 5 Jesus healed a man who had been lame for 38 years. After healing this guy he tells him to pick up his mat and "walk it off." In Mark 2 Jesus heals a guy who was paralyzed. As soon as he heals the guy he tells him, “you guessed it, take a walk.” I believe walking could help us in a lot of areas in our life.
Whenever I hear really bad news or if I’m super upset about something I take a walk. It gives me time to think and process things. Walking also has amazing health benefits physically and emotionally. I do a lot of prayer walking. I find that I pray and think better when I’m walking. Jesus walked a lot in his short lifetime. I did a google search and it’s estimated that Jesus walked somewhere between 3000 to 15,000 miles. Can you imagine all the amazing conversations Jesus had with his followers as he walked? I know we live in a hurry up culture but I want to encourage you to walk it off. Walk off the stress, walk off the anger, walk off the frustration, walk off the confusion, walk off the heartache, walk off the shame, walk off the disappointment, and walk off the cares and worries of this world.
Today is election day. I care a lot about how things go. I feel like there is a lot at stake. If the people I vote for don’t win, you can bet I’m going to be disappointed, which of course means I’m going to go to my favorite walking places so I can walk it off. If you are disappointed tomorrow I encourage you to do the same.
Love and blessings,
Steve