Daily Pastoral #41
We’ve had a steady stream of company visiting from out of town these last couple weeks. Alex and I enjoy hosting and work really hard to make our place warm and inviting (never mind the fact that we only have one bathroom - pray for a windfall so we can build another one).
But as you know, no matter how lovely the guests are, after a few days, tensions run a little high.
Well, this happened the other day. Our guests had just left and at one point, I could cut the anxiety with a knife. Someone was gonna blow their lid.
“Let’s go! We’re going for a hike, family,” Alex announced. And even though we were tired and just wanted to rest, we got our hiking shoes on, filled up our water bottles, and headed out to one of our local strolls in the woods.
Immediately, it was like shedding a lead blanket of stress and tension.
Walking in nature resets the soul.
You’re forced into taking deep breaths.
You can stretch.
Your heart rate gets to that good orange level (sorry, OrangeTheory).
With each step, your feet take you into newness and restoration. Your brain focuses on the material world and you get back into your body. This is very Christian. It’s an embodied faith that centers around flesh and blood.
It seems like these days, we lean on mental solutions to our mental stress. We reach for the new meditation app, we journal, we talk ad nauseam about our plight to friends or counselors. All of these things have their place. But as sedentary as we are these days, I have to say…
Sometimes you just gotta walk it off.
As Ever,
Jonas
Amen to that, Jonas!... that is, if you are fortunate enough to have such a place to walk! Walking on cement past nothing but rows of houses does not actually have the same effect; the nature part is sort of missing. But I do indeed love the remedy for stress.
Ok .. so this was on time! I will just say I use the “guest” as a metaphor, for to many visitors in my head… so Thanks Alex!
And to you for this … “Sometimes you just got walk it off”