Printer
Friendly page - click here
Nowhere Plan |
|
Article by Tom Gilbert - July 20, 2004
I walk out of the hotel and into the summer
heat of Albuquerque. It is easily over 90 degrees Fahrenheit
and I immediately
take a draw from my water bottle. I glance about as I purposely
begin an aimless walk. There are several people sitting on
benches and chairs, mostly under whatever patch of shade they
can find. Others fan out in every direction, also on
their pilgrimage to nowhere. Our journey of meditative walking
has begun.
My instructions are to walk slowly, conscious of my breathing, perhaps using a phrase to help me contemplate
the moment. “Yes/thank you” or “beauty/back”, whatever works
as a way of getting peacefully into the present moment. “Hot/hot” comes
to mind, but I push this nonsense aside. I’m going
to do this, enjoy it and maybe even learn something.
Each of us on our walk, and there were probably two hundred or so hitting the streets at the same
time, wears a round medallion. The mirrored front reflects blinding beams of sunlight. I’m reflecting
God’s presence, I muse, mindful that each medallion has been lovingly
handmade and individually prayed over. I'm praying now
too, with each step consenting to the now and open to a
walk without a destination. “Don’t have a goal” we
were told. Just go wherever your feet take you.
I’m sure the regular folks out on the sidewalks and passing between buildings are bemused.
No one gave them the memo about pilgrims out for an hour of directionless, peaceful strolling.
“It might help to have a half-smile on your face” we were also
told. People are going to think I’m some kook, I think.
Well, maybe not…it’s only my self-consciousness.
I don’t smile enough anyway, so how can it hurt?
Initially it is hard to not see the other pilgrims and wonder
if I need to avoid them or not. Sometimes we catch each others’ sideway
glances and I realize they are probably thinking something
similar. But, no one looks angry, disturbed, worried or even
embarrassed.
Actually, everyone looks rather peaceful, even happy.
Many of the people at this conference of “The Eternal
Now, and How to Be There” had traveled many miles.
They came from other cities, states, even countries. It would
be easy for them to walk anywhere in the downtown area without
a design. I, however, live in this city. Suddenly it is harder
not to pick the street or direction. I realize my excursions
to this part of town are rare. When was the last time I walked
the streets of downtown?
I find myself walking past the public library. What a magnificent mural! I see a beautiful church
with an impressive stone Christ hanging on the cross. Glass, concrete, heat, traffic,
trees, buzzing insects and all God’s creation right there before my observant eyes.
No way can you get this driving bumper-to-bumper and hoping for a steady stream of green
lights. Slow down; be here now.
Eventually my wandering leads me to the nearby neighborhoods.
Albuquerque is one of the few cities that still have such communities
closely surrounding the city’s center.
My feet traipse down cracked sidewalks, in and out of shade,
and past colorful adobe houses, wildflowers and parked cars.
Once I glance down an alley and see a flock of birds zig
and zag across the azure sky. And then I notice the clouds.
Great, billowing cumulus rising like microwave popcorn in
the July heat.
I pass a house with a large cottonwood whose great, wide limbs coddle several handmade birdhouses. I turn the corner
and another tree, even larger, has twice as many. Someone has put a lot of love into these dwellings. No two are the
same.
|
 |
Being present to the world around us, and to the greater hidden
world of which we are but a small part requires more than attention.
To be present requires my consent. I must agree to set aside
my personal agenda and accept that someone greater than me is
the One who is the source of everything I need. I cannot connect
with Abba and accept that I am beloved as long as I put my needs,
cares and concerns first.
Aimless walking does not mean aimless living. The “nowhere
plan” of a pilgrimage without a goal becomes a very
real way of centering my being in the presence of the will
of God. I can be here now wherever I am. Trusting the experience
is the lesson – and the gift – I receive. How
subtle, sudden and sublime.
Not nowhere. Now here.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
You'll also receive Practical Biblical Solutions for life's challenges
with our free e-zine |
| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
We
have more than 120,000 Christian books, bibles,
music,gifts, video, software and more!
It's easy to find what you're looking for by using
our BROWSE feature to search for your favorite
type of
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
PSALM 46:10
|
|
|
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
|
|
(NIV)
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Recommended
Reading
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
