Trust in the Lord of the Journey

As our Journey to Bethlehem winds down, I offer this prayer for your continued journey:

Trust in the Lord of the Journey
- Pierre Teilhard de Cahrdin, 1861-1955
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way
to something unknown,
something new.
Yet it is the law of all progress that is made
by passing through some stages of instability
and that may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually. Let them grow.
Let them shape themselves without undue haste.
Do not try to force them on
as though you could be today what time
--- that is to say, grace ---
and circumstances
acting on your own good will
will make you tomorrow.
Only God could say that this new Spirit
gradually forming in you will be.

Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his had is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Above all, trust in the slow work of God,
our loving vine-dresser.

Amen.

Adding up

A couple of the original WtB walkers gave me their totals to date:
23 for M and 32 for J. Or maybe the other way around. But 55 total!
And J e-mailed her 13 for the week. So let's add 68 miles to what we had . . .
124 +68+ 8.5 (from me - w-f) = 200.5 miles. Right?

Something to ponder . . .

Carol Erb forwarded this to me from her reading. It is worth thinking about:

Interesting article in this week's Farm World, "The road from Bethlehem is as full of Christ as the town." Rev. L. Althouse says "As important as it is to tread the way to Bethlehem, it is even more important that when we have worshipped the Christ Child, we take the Good News with us on the road from Bethlehem and out into the world!"

As we near the destination of our Advent journey, we remember that we realize the road does not end there, but continues for a lifetime and beyond.

X minus 9 days . . . and counting

Doing the math.
92+32= 124 miles.
Together we have walked from here to . . . the outskirts of Chicago.
"Walking to the Suburbs" just doesn't sound has Christmas-y as Walking to Bethlehem, though, does it?

Tuesday - reporting on Sunday

I got a few more miles turned in Sunday morning:
18 from one person and 7 from another.
And I walked 3.5 yesterday and today = 7.
So we have 32 to add to our tally.

A friend from California sent me a link to a story on NPR about the olive harvest in Palestine.
It's at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16506897

It ran on Thanksgiving and has very little to do with Christmas, except that longing for peace on earth, goodwill to all is pretty much a Christmas theme.
It's a heartwarming story - about people and not politics, (for those who shy away from politics.)
It even has recipes!

More mileage!

It was great to pick up the phone this morning and hear from our Lutheran walkers. They have been moving right along!
12/1-6 A went 7.25 miles and W logged 5.
12/7-13 the each hiked 8.25 miles. Wow! That's gettin' on down the road.

So . . . 12.25 + 16.50 = 28.75 miles from those two. Hoorah!

Our running total is now 54.75 + 28.75 = 83.5 + 8.5 (me) = 92 mi. logged.
I know that there are lots of unlogged miles out there! Let's get those in, OK?
You can call 684-2317 or click the "comment" link on this blog and leave a message about YOUR walk. Advent is a journey we take TOGETHER into God's future. (As we used to say at Little League games: How about a little chatter out there?)

Thought for the walk

Have you ever tried walking with a refrain in your head? Some people even call it "walking meditation". (But don't let that put you off!)

"Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come" fits with a moderate pace. So does "Jesus Christ, the peace of the world" or "Jesus Christ, bring us peace" A Bible verse or phrase you like would work, too.

The idea is that you let other thoughts go, letting the phrase you've chosen be your focus. Just repeat it. When other ideas intrude, or you become aware that your mind has drifted, you just very gently return to the prayer phrase.

If you try it a few times, for a 10 or 15 minute walk each time, you may find that you taste a bit of the peace you pray for.

I got in 3.5 m before breakfast.