One can rarely walk too much. The gentle extension and contraction of one’s legs in an alternating rhythm enriches virtually every aspect of the self. Physically, it recruits largest of the body’s muscles in an undemanding yet active way, proffering an ideally low-intensity form of sustainable cardiovascular exercise. Inducing a lower heart rate than most other activities, a higher percentage of energy expended derives from fat, and with minimal risk of fatigue or need for recovery, you can literally walk to your heart’s content. Mentally, it frees oneself from the plethora of distractions that permeate our modern world and from the blinding minutiae of human thought, whilst simultaneously stimulating the quiescent muse, the gradual passage through quotidian existence providing an optimal pacifier for the restless subconscious. Nietzsche apparently grasped this benefit when he said that “every good thought is conceived while walking”. Furthermore, the physical movement resulting from the subtle instruction of the brain and the sensational feedback thus produced underscore the link between mind and body: I walk, therefore I am.
The Divine Walk
Walking also has a spiritual dimension, which I seek to explore in this blog. Jewish dietary laws depend on what type of ‘hoof’ the animal walks. Human feet in Biblical times were considered unclean for obvious reasons. To walk in front of or on top of somebody therefore represented supremacy (e.g. in Daniel 4:29, Daniel walks "on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon"), and to walk barefoot was symbolic of mourning (2 Samuel 15:30) and humility (Job 12:17, 19). On the other hand, to wash another’s feet was an explicit act of servitude. Satan “roams about” and “walks around” on the earth (Job 1:7). Jesus walked on water and made the lame to walk. Now he “walks among the seven golden lampstands” (Rev 2:1).
Whilst Buddha said that “We ourselves must walk the path”, referring to the absence of any saviour except ours selves, the Christian “walk” represents the polar opposite - carrying one’s cross daily, to crucify the sinful self and so accept Christ’s own sacrifice. The concept of the pilgrimage derives from this spiritual overlap: to symbolically walk in the footsteps of one’s forbearing disciples somehow associates us with them.
Walking with God
Without sin, we walk with God. Before Adam and Eve partook of the Apple, they walked with God. The righteousness of Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Noah (Genesis 6:9) brought them back to that state. God promised Israel as the ‘chosen people’ that ‘he would walk among them and be their God’ and that ‘they shall be His people’ (Leviticus 26:12). In this covenant, the land on which the Hebrews walked was the literal fulfilment of God’s promise: He tells His people “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you” (Genesis 13:17). However, the blessing is conditional on obedience with the Law (Deuteronomy 5:33, 11:22-5). Deuteronomy 23:14 reads “since the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.” When they heeded God’s commandments, the Hebrews crossed the River Jordan and conquered the Promised Land, their footsteps literally bringing down the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6). When they strayed from the Holy Path, they wandered aimlessly in the desert for forty years until the rebellious generation had almost died out (Joshua 5:6).
That covenant is extended to us: He makes us to walk beside quiet waters, and is beside us in the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalm 23). He makes our feet “like hinds’ feet” and makes us walk on “high places” (Habakkuk 3:19). When we “pass through the waters”, He will be with us; when through the rivers, they will not overflow us; when through the fire, we will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn us (Isaiah 43:2; Daniel 3:25). When we walk, our steps will not be impeded, nor will we tire, and if we run, we will not stumble, nor grow feint (Proverbs 4:12; Isaiah 40:28-31; Psalm 18:36), so that we “may walk before God in the light of the living” (Psalm 56:13) and eventually walk the Golden streets of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:21).
The Christian Walk
As partakers in the Covenant, we are called to "walk in His ways", meaning to follow His commandments, to fear Him, and to love and serve Him with all our heart and with all our soul (Deuteronomy 8:6; 10:12). So how does a follower of 'The Way' walk? The Bible usually presents walking as a dichotomy between, amongst others: God's commandments, statutes or teachings and sin; light or vision and darkness or blindness; truth and falsehood; humility or fear of God and pride; wisdom and folly; blamelessness or integrity and guilt or shame; His name or our own.
One of the most frequent of such dichotomies is between walking straight and walking sideways or backwards: while you can tell a fool by the way he walks (Ecclesiastes 10:3), "a man of understanding walks straight" (Proverbs 15:21). This distinction corresponds to one between walking 'after the wind' versus 'in the newness of life', and in 'futility of mind' versus Christ's love (Ephesians 4). King Josiah is said to have done "right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left" (2 Kings 22:1-2); in contrast the Hebrews "did no obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubborness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward" (Jeremiah 7:24). It would seem, therefore, that the temptations of the world can distract us onto perpendicular detours ("the council of the wicked", Psalm 1:1), whilst those of those of the self call us in the opposite direction to the Way. This makes sense when we consider that Satan's ploys are often crafty perversions of the Truth, whilst the Christian calling is directly contrary to the stipulations of the self.
The angelic creatures that appear in the books of Daniel and Revelation and that reside in God's very thrownroom are said to walk unidirectionally. That is also our calling; and I use the word 'calling' literally, for Isaiah 30:22 tells us that "your ears will hear a word behind, you, 'This is the way, walk in it', whenever you turn to the right or to the left". God desires that we should follow His Way; indeed, he created us for the very reason that we may walk in the good works prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10); he leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake (Psalm 23).
Paul urges us to walk according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh (Romans 8; Galatians 5). Indeed, Galatians 5 is illuminating with regards the metaphor of walking. In that chapter, two different Greek words are used, both of which are translated as "walk". The first refers to the commonly understood definition, whilst the second denotes 'keeping in check'. Regarding the spiritual walk, these two meanings are quasi-synonymous.
Although we should never be in doubt about which way we are walking, thanks to this divine 'Sat Nav', we can choose whether or not to heed its instructions. 2 Corinthians 5 informs us that to walk in the Way requires that we walk according to faith rather than according to sight. The choice between walking in, on the one hand, "darkness" and "sin", and on the other, "fellowship with Him" "fellowship with one another", being cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus, is absolute: we must pick one or the other (1 John 1:6-7). Notice that this verse also reveals to us that our walk is not solitary: it involves "fellowship". Although each person is their own walker, we are called to 'walk the extra mile' as servants of each other.
We have addressed how a Follower should walk, but what about the where? Surely a distinction can be made not only between the manner of our walking but also where we choose to do so. In the Gospels, Jesus tells us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the "narrow gate", which is also the road 'less travelled by' in the words of Robert Frost. This contrasts to the "wide road" that leads to destruction. On the other hand, the path is a "highway", and an "ancient" one at that (Jeremiah 18:15): it is evident to those who seek it, and moreover never changes. This insight should motivate us to listen to our Sat Nav all the more: we must always ensure that we have not deviated onto "bypaths" of "worthless gods", which cause us to "stumble" (and therefore fall out of the promise of Proverbs 4:12; see above) . This corresponds to "walking in faith" alluded to above: the 'recommended route' may seem roundabout given our immediate objectives, but we know that God's plans for us are full of prosperity and hope (Jeremiah 29:11). The path through the Red Sea would not have existed unless Moses had heeded God's instruction.
To walk after something is to desire or pursue it, and for this reason the concept is often used to describe both loyalty and idolatry, for example the Hebrew's 'adultery' with Baal. Our motivation to walk should therefore be one of love, responding to God's grace. Colossians 2:6 reads "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him", an similarly Galations 5:25, "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit". Paradoxically, however, to walk in God's Way we must let him 'walk us': for "a man's way is not in himself, Nor is it a man who walks to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). The Christian walk is not one of personal endeavour, but one of yielding and surrender.
The Journey and the Destination
Although the walks of fools and wise mens' are fundamentally different, the one walking in light and the other in darkness, "one fate befalls them both" (Ecclesiastes 2:14). To walk in the Way should therefore embrace the quotidian, the circadian, and the routine: the journey is the destination. Indeed, one of the great things about walking is that you can multitask when doing it: you can talk, think, eat, pray, listen, etc., while at the same time performing the activity. In fact, many people find walking to be a useful way to stimulate the creative faculties. On the other hand, blessings await those "who walk in the law of the LORD" (Psalm 119:1), and we do have an eternal destination awaiting us: the golden streets of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:21).
How to reconcile the journey and the destination? Isaiah 35:8 prophecies "A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it". Our destination in Heaven seems to be an eternal (but restful) journey. Meanwhile, our journey on earth contains the destination in Jesus Christ. As Psalm 85:14 reads, "Righteousness will go before Him And will make His footsteps into a way." Jesus is the "highway", and it is not by our own walk that we reach His destination, but by the timeless journey that He made by carrying His cross to calvary.
