I don’t walk much in my day-to-day. I live in a suburb of a larger city, and I accomplish most of the activities in my life with an automobile. I go to the grocery store, travel to my office, attend church, or dine out only after I get in my car and drive somewhere. I’m a professional driver and an amateur walker.

But I like to walk. I enjoy an evening stroll or a long walk in the morning. I might listen to a book when I walk, or simply amble along and think. I possess introverted tendencies. Walking energizes me in a way like no other.

Which is one reason I’m enjoying this week on the Camino de Santiago. Walking from cool mornings into warm afternoons with only a stop for a meal or to rotate my socks. The action is gracious and healing.

Jesus walked with his disciples as he taught them lessons about the kingdom of God. Perhaps this reality points to something deeper. Maybe walking is the best way to ingest and consider God’s words. Certainly it’s better than attempting to do so while cursing in traffic.

Jesus called his first disciples and immediately they started walking from village to village: Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

As I walk from village to village here in Spain I appreciate that I’m on a trail trodden by followers of Jesus for over a millennium. I also appreciate that I’m performing this simplest of acts that yields the deepest of results—the soul forming act of walking.

Matthew 4:23

Photo by pilgrim Rebecca Fussell