Long walks are good for my soul.

As I’m here again on the Camino de Santiago I’m reminded how walking, day after day for mile after mile, settles my heart and mind. The sheer physicality helps my body. I enjoy the sun and sky. As I turn off social media, email and newsfeeds, worries fade into the distance. To go to bed tired, after a good meal, makes for a refreshing night’s sleep. How can my soul not benefit?

Ages ago a psalmist wrote of such walks as he praised to the Lord: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

We might rephrase the words as happy are those who walk and think about God. You and I don’t have to travel around the world to enjoy ambling with the Lord. Just out the door his creation waits. If I make the time, back home I can also enjoy the rhythm of tramping along, one foot in front of the other, enjoying nature and letting regular life slide away for an hour or two.

Keep walking—that’s one of my takeaways from the Camino. No matter where I find myself, I can stroll and enjoy a few minutes in the presence of the Lord. As I do so even the briefest meander transforms into a pilgrimage.

Psalm 84:5

Photo by Jon Tyson