The Spiritual

The term spiritual life's journey is often used to describe a person's spiritual life growth . Certainly each one of us is on a spiritual journey . One important lesson I learned very quickly as I began the ministry was to accept where people were in their spiritual journey not where I wanted or expected them to be . Each of us can learn a great lesson from this . We are all at different and various points of the journey . Liken it to a trip one takes by car . Some of us are going down the highway just cruising along , others might be at a rest stop or filling up our spiritual tank , or perhaps we are broken down by life's highway . We are all at a different place . We may very well get to what we thought to be our destination but it turns out to be somewhere else we never expected . The truth is we never stop growing . How exciting a spiritual journey can be . Sometimes we forget about our journey altogether and how sad that can be . God speaks to us in infinite ways if only we will listen . My own journey has been all of these things . I have cruised along , been at rest stops , filling the tank , and a few times I have been broken down by the highway . The life God has given us is perfect . Humans though have a way of placing constructs on top of God's creation and we tend to call these by numerous names . Stress , hurt , anger , excuse mongering , blaming are just a few . We today tend to concentrate on what we think others have done to us when , in reality we have allowed these things to happen to us . Reality states it does not really matter . What does matter is how we react to these human constructs with the abilities God has given us . My seven mile walk with God didn't begin as a seven mile walk . I started slowly never thinking or realizing what I was embarking on . I thought I would begin an exercise regime to try to get back in shape and feel better . I did begin to get in better shape but something was happening when I walked . My mind would concentrate on my own constructs and cloud my communion with God . These constructs I allowed myself to be overcome by should be very familiar to most of us . I found walking began to stress me . Why , I wondered ? I would think about a failed marriage and the anger it gave me even after many years . I thought about ways people had wronged or been mean to me or had taken advantage of me . I would even think about why people who passed me were driving so wildly ignoring stop signs and speed limits ! I began to ask myself , what do these things I like to call human constructs have even remotely to do with my walk and excercise ? The answer , of course , is they didn't . I began to see I was concentrating on things past , present and future I had absolutely no control over . In short , these constructs were interfering with my spiritual journey . I was broken down by the road . Yes , I could have done things differently but what happened happened . To place human constructs on top of God's creation became destructive to me . About the same time this was happening I was also progressing with my walk getting up to about what I thought was five miles . One day I decided to add about a mile and thought I was walking six . Borrowing a pedometer I was amazed I was actually walking seven . Then it hit me . One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is the road to Emmaus story . After He was crucified and raised Christ appeared to the Disciples and many others . One event from Luke 24 : 13-15 recounts the story of two disciples walking from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus about seven miles distance . As they walked they talked of the events which had transpired and suddenly there was another walking with them . Of course they didn't realize it was The Lord for their eyes were closed to reality meaning their hearts had become hardened to what they thought was the end of everything they had known the last three years . Jesus spoke to them , then , he was gone . He spoke to me too when I realized I was really walking seven miles and I began to cry uncontrolably . God was speaking to me if only I would listen . Yes , I had gotten myself in physical shape but I had neglected my spiritual self . I had wasted too much time worrying and thinking about things and people I had no hope of controling . " I believe in destiny , Mrs . Palfrey says in the wonderful novel and film Mrs . Palfrey Goes to the Claremont , but , she goes on , it is up to us to make the right decision ." God places people and events before us but we must make those decisions which He allows us to make to bring us closer in communion with Him .

The Beginning

As I begin this new blog , I have seen many recent changes in my life and the lives of others around me . However , there has been one constant in my life now for about two and a half years . The constant has been my 3-4 times a week walk through open fields and Florida oak hammocks , past lakes filled with fish and curious wildlife . I began like I said about two and a half years ago . I had become sedentary and needed an outlet to try to get back in shape . I started slowly at first and found quickly I lacked the proper footwear . So , researching walking shoes I opted for New Balance walkers which gave me not only stability but the cushion support needed for long walking . Today I am on my fifth pair having worn out previous pairs around 500-600 miles each ! My caution to anyone deciding to walk for distance is to get the right footwear and start slowly . My first barrier was the two mile mark and overcoming muscle fatigue brought on by my previous lack of movement . I also continued and expanded a basic stretching routine before and after each walk . Time is an often used as an excuse not to exercise but I overcame this item quickly . My seven mile walk which also includes some intense resistant training on a horizontal bar takes about two hours to complete . I learned patience straight away understanding each barrier I surmounted would take time . In all , it has taken me a little over two years to reach my present level . Hydration is another important step . I drank lots of water anyway but in the SW Florida heat and humidity one will instantly sweat it out . One of my goals was to rid my body of poisons we build up from poor diet and even the slightest alchohol intake . Guys , if you drink beer , sorry you will have to greatly curtail or quit the beverage altogether . Not only does beer clear the body of needed substances like magnisium it , as well as other alchoholic beverages will actually force the body to retain water , a definite no-no . I never smoked but if you do quit . You want your lungs to expand and believe me the feeling is wonderful . This was my physical preparation . The next step was spiritual .