Fall Spiritual Walk & Talk, October 18
The walk will be done virtually this fall due to Covid-19 and to keep you and yours safe. The Health & Wellness Ministry is asking that you walk anyplace of your choosing, but keep safe with social distancing in mind. I’m hoping that it is a beautiful day and that you are eager to fill your lungs with fresh air. If that is the case, put on your walking shoes and go on a quiet, refreshing walk in the least man-intruded walking area you can find.
In the Jewish tradition it is believed that The Words God used to create the World are still physically inside each bit of it, holding it up. Maybe like a hologram? Martin Luther said, “God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also in trees, and flowers, and clouds and stars.” Similiar perceptions are in many faith traditions. This is what a Spiritual Walk is about - connecting with God who dwells in all of creation. This connection will reduce the stress of the “new normal”. In Europe your doctor would be prescribing this medicine.
Here are my suggestions for your walk in, under, and among the beautiful fall foilage.
Begin your walk with a song. Hum along as you stand and view the trail you are about to embark upon. Remember the song: “Open my eyes that I may see, glimpses of faith thou hast for me, Place in my hand the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free. Silently now I wait for thee, Ready my God thy will to see, Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit Divine.”
Now stop and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and relax. Shake and stretch out the kinks of ZOOM and loss of personal touch. Follow these 3 steps to having an incredible spiritual fall walk experience.
SET AN INTENTION: Create in this moment the experience you desire.
A good first step is to recall a spiritual moment. A moment when an expansive feeling flowed through you and you felt connected to something much bigger and older and eternal - perhaps the essence of life itself. A calm peace descended – you knew everything is as it should be. Dwell in that feeling for awhile. Open your eyes. Set this “feeling” as what you are seeking to manifest on this walk. Jesus told us, “Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find.”
BE SILENT: Walk quietly without talking.
Be aware of your beingness. Walk along slowly. Open your eyes, ears, nose, sensations. Be expectant. Be aware of what you are experiencing bodily and sensationally. When something “calls” to you, stop, observe by sight, sound touch, feelings, be meditative.
BE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT: Shut off your chatting ego. Breathe deeply. Soak it up.
Be aware of what flows into your mind, heart, feeling. Soak it up, Seek to join it. When you have your fill, walk along and find the next thing that calls you.
Remember when you go out into God’s creation, it does not belong to you. You are as much a part of it as the twig under foot. Everything you see has a role. Nothing has a choice within it, except you. Your actions affect everything. Love and respect is the role we were given. Have a great walk!
PS. If you find a special spot, snap a photo and send to Jimi James. I’ll make a collage of those sent.
NOTE: Don’t miss, Jimi James who will also be leading a Coffee: Grounds For Discussion talk At A NEW TIME of 4:00 pm via Zoom, (details below!)
Coffee: Grounds for Discussion
Sunday, October 18, 2020, Noon (NEW TIME) - Via Zoom
Overshoot Day - Dr. Jimi James
For the past few years, the color of fall and the sighting of Trillium has said its time for the Health and Wellness Spiritual Walk. These have been led by Dr. Jimi James. Two years ago on the Sunday nearest to Earth Day, a talk and conversation about the status of our planet was given at the Coffee:Grounds for Discussion prior to the walk. Then came the pandemic and you got the plan for the walk and you went alone. You’ll notice the Fall Spiritual Walk was an article in the recent St. Luke’s Mail drop to members. This year Health and Wellness is adding an adult education talk in the fall. It is this coming Sunday, Oct 18. It will Zoom out at 4:00 pm. The talk will center on Overshoot Day which on August 22. That is the day you and I and the rest of the humans on Planet Earth has consumed a year’s worth of our planet’s resources We are currently living on stored resources. The talk will center on the significance of this and what one thing that you and I can do to begin reversing the process. Is this worth considering? Yes, we are headed to the Earth’s 5th extinction. Join the conversation.
Dr. Jimi James’s professional work was in suburban St. Louis. She taught biology and advanced biology, later became the science coordinator of a district of 26 schools, taught science methods at Washington University, and directed the Great St Louis Science and Engineering Fair for 20 years. Her love of the out of doors came from spending weekends on fishing banks with her dad and shooting squirrels and rabbits for the family dinner. She has always found God in the midst of the woods and flow of the water. She understands that we are the caretakers of this planet.
Health and Wellness,
Jimi James