Walking

I have never done so much walking.  I have walked briskly along a paved pathway in the July heat, and traipsed up rocky, dirt paths winding round the foothills.  I have had my steps counted with ranges of at least 10,000 to 14,000 and at times have reached heights up to  90 floors.  And yet I am sure despite the sweat, and heavy breathing that comes with those steps, they are nothing compared to the steps of those who lived so long ago. It's hard to imagine what it must have been to live up to 800-900 years, when daily you faced the fact of surviving.  Enlisting your ever growing family to build a life with you, quickly you realized, man never was designed to go it alone. From the very beginning, companions were needed to complement us, to fill in the gaps, for those inherent shortcomings we no doubt have within ourselves.  And everyday required you to walk. . . 

So I have pondered for awhile, Enoch, a name just mentioned in a genealogy.  He was a descendant far removed from Seth, a son of Adam and Eve.  But his lineage seemed to be unique in that they called on the name of the Lord, instead of being like their other relatives from Cain who seemed to go it alone by their own human means.  Yet Enoch in all these names is signaled out by the writer to state that "he walked with God for 300 years."  Wow, that is nothing less than amazing!

In the beginning, it seemed God enjoyed walking with his creation, with Adam and Eve, in the garden in the cool of the day.  The Creator is always drawn to his creation, just like the artist is drawn to his canvas and painting.  I think it's that part in me that is drawn to my new love of hiking, to walk along paths of natural untouched beauty.  Creation is always inviting us to step into its mystery and beauty, and yet another important aspect, is that God is always inviting me to walk with Him too.  I'm not sure why Enoch and his great grandson Noah are the only two individuals who have been characterized by that phrase of "walking with God."  Why are  they particular when there were obviously so many others? What did they take away from those walks, that time spent one on one with the very One who thought of you and formed you?

After the flood, it doesn't seem that people had that same type of intimacy with God.  Yes, He did reveal Himself to individuals and a people, but not in the same way, at least not worded in such a way.  God was still evident but could only be seen through a thick cloud or a pillar of fire or a thunderous earth shaking Mount Sinai.  Few shared that closeness of a walk, but perhaps Moses who dared to ask God to show Himself; which He did, only as Moses hid in the cleft of a rock as God brushed by.  Hundreds of years would pass, until God Himself would again walk on earth, when Jesus came.  That time too was characterized by the reality of having to walk practically everywhere.  Obviously, walking must be an aspect of God's image within us, and certainly does put us on a different plane than all other creatures.  

I think it is no surprise then to realize that walking is not only essential to being human, but it is an aspect that draws us into fellowship with God.  No wonder so many New Testament writers remind us of the importance of our "walk."  The disciple John (I John 1:7) reminds us to "walk in the light."  Paul (I Thessalonians 4:1) reminds us "how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk) so that you may excel still more," and again in I Corinthians 5:7, "we walk by faith, not by sight."  Walking matters to God . . . 

So perhaps that is why I have embraced my new love of hiking.  I am learning again to walk, sometimes rocky narrow paths, some steeper, some more winding, but with each step I am walking and living in God's forever goodness and mercy .

"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,

 And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." 

(Psalms 23:6)