Tag: Walking

Walking with God

21st September 2024

Come … let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2:5

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading from Luke 24: 13-17, 25-29 

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,  but their eyes were kept from recognising him.  And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. 

When we walk 

our minds are free.

When our minds are free 

our eyes open. 

When our eyes are open 

we see the truth.

When we walk 

our minds are free.

When our minds are free 

our inner chatter quietens. 

When our inner chatter quietens 

we hear the truth. 

When we walk 

our  minds are free.

When our minds our free 

our hearts open.

When our hearts open 

we can embrace the truth.

Jesus, friend and companion, walk alongside us today.

Open our eyes.

Quieten our chatter.

Speak into our hearts.

Fill us with understanding.

Show us new ways of living

Renew in us love for the world.

And as evening draws in, meet us in the breaking of bread.

The Grace

Today I led one of several Christian Climate Action pilgrimages that are taking place across the country this week. Here is a link to today’s walk along the Thames from Hammersmith Bridge – https://greentau.org/2024/09/21/pilgrimage-for-the-planet-3/

Lent – walking dangerous paths

23rd March 2024  

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading from Deuteronomy 10:12-13 

So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.

People who walk as refugees 

struggling under burdens too heavy to unpack, 

want only a safe future.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.


People who walk the lonely streets 

wrapped in a dirt-worn sleeping bag, 

want only a bed to call home.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.


People who walk across parched fields 

at a pace which hunger dictates, 

want only a square meal each day.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.

People who walk gingerly around unexplored ordinances 

ducking out of the sniper’s range, 

want only a foundation for peace.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.

People who walk the chicane 

of benefits offices and job centres, of interviews and rejections, 

want only life-fulfilling employment.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.

People who walk as massed processions 

bearing placards that express their hopes and fears, 

want only justice and democracy.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.

People who walk the corridors of power 

enveloped in self importance and blinkered by nepotism, 

need – surely? – only to walk the streets of lived experience.

Merciful God, show us your pathways of love.

A further reading from Matthew 21:7-11

They brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’

Merciful God, lead us in the right paths.

Amen.

 Counting on … day 242

13th July 2022

Urban areas are generally hotter than their nearby rural areas. Buildings and vehicles all add heat to their local micro climate, whilst vegetation reduces temperatures. Not driving cars during hot weather is one small way of keeping the air cooler. You too will probably feel cooler walking on the shady of side of the street rather than being sat in a hot metal box.

 Counting on ….day 215

16th June 2022 

‘Air pollution can impact every organ in everybody – not just those who are vulnerable. Even though we can’t see it, air pollution impacts our health from our first breath to our last’ – Larissa Lockwood, Director of Clean Air at Global Action Plan. The simplest thing we can all do is to cut out  short car  journeys and walk instead – better for both our health and our environment. The focus of this year’s campaign is on contacting our local authorities to tell them what actions they can take to make walking easier in our own area.  https://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/news/clean-air-day-2022-theme-confirmed 

NB The Met Office produces an air pollution forecast – https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting/locations?q=+M50+3AZ

Counting on …day 169 

30th April 2022

Picking up on the idea of car-free Sundays, how many excursions or days out can you plan that don’t involve a car? Walks that include a pub lunch, walks that incorporate a visit to a museum or historic site, cycle rides that include stunning view points (and a downhill ride afterwards!), a bus or train ride along a scenic route, a walk along a canal….