Where We Walk

We live in a small town in Southern Maryland and the house in which we are raising our family is no more than a short block away from the Chesapeake Bay. Our family has grown and sometimes I long for more space – for a bigger driveway and a more spacious kitchen. I think about what it might be like to easily host big dinner parties and access storage without a balancing act. But the blessing of living near water can’t be understated. I think if I had all the space in the world, I would miss my house by the bay.

We have residential access to a beautiful private boardwalk leading to a natural beach, and only 2 miles north, in our neighboring town, we enjoy a public boardwalk with a fishing pier, pavilion and sunrise garden. Our parish parking lot sits next to this boardwalk and our Parish rectory enjoys the beautiful views of the bay from it’s boardwalk location. Our pastor has a small chapel in his home and when I see the light in the second story window, I know the Blessed Sacrament is safely there, overlooking this special space. There is bakery, an ice cream shop, and a Mexican restaurant and my girl’s dance studio is nestled amid the beach cottages.

Over the years, I’ve spent many hours on these boardwalks. I’ve walked through pregnancies and post-postpartum. I’ve run with sunrises and trained for my one and only long race. I’ve built lifelong friendships on runs and walks. I’ve walked with others and alone, with strollers and with baby carriers. I’ve walked through the isolation of the 2020 quarantine and through the grief of losing my mom. I’ve walked with headphones, listening to Music and a lot of Fr. Mike Schmitz Podcast episodes, and I’ve walked with my ears bare, listening to the sounds of the bay and the people enjoying it. I’ve walked in the morning, in the heat of the day, and at night where the moon reflects on the beautiful bay water.

I think it’s important as Christians that we have somewhere to walk. Whether it be a neighborhood or a park or a boardwalk or river walk – walking is important. Of course, it’s good for our physical health, but I think it’s crucial for our spiritual health as well.

For when we walk, we are able to see what we are really doing in this world. We get caught up in details and schedules and chaos, but really we are just passing through. For 1 Chronicles 29:15 says,

“For before you we are strangers and travelers, like all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without a future.”

Our future isn’t here, it’s in heaven. What we do here matters, but this is not our home.

The scriptures have no shortage of instruction and reference to walking, even if used metaphorically. Throughout the old and new testaments, the righteous “walk with God.” Noah, Enoch, Moses, and Abraham – they walked with God. And so, we too, are called to walk.

Walking reminds us of just how big this world is. That though the vastness of creation reveals the smallness of us, it also reveals the significance of our lives. The God who created all the glory of the universe, also created you.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” Jeremiah 1:5

He’s known you, and he’s wanted you to be a part of His creation since before you were born. He wants you to walk through this life as a witness to his glory.

When we walk and see ourselves as sojourners, we can rightly orient our lives towards the kingdom. We can filter out the important and unimportant, we can hand over our worries and cares to Him.

When we walk, we can reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going, and we can commit to that forward momentum. Because it’s that forward momentum that will bring us home to heaven.