STEDY, October 17, 2018

Psalm 139
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
When my niece and nephew were learning to walk they had this toy lawnmower which they loved to push all over the house and lawn. Alipio had a similar sort of a walker that played music when pushed and had all sorts of gadgets on the front. We have videos of him lumbering on chunky legs and feet, barely dodging our cat, sauntering about, completely ignorant that Alipio only had one speed. Realizing that he was walking on his own, he would giggle with his few teeth and drool covered chin. In those spare moments of holding his hands as he tried to stand and take a few steps, I would always be reminded of people I’d visited after surgeries or stokes, the older people unsteady on their feet who had clung to me or I had spotted from behind as they struggled with a walker. I would think of a girl from my last congregation who had to have surgery for scoliosis. Children’s Hospital had a massive St. Bernard who proudly served as her fuzzy and slobbery crutch as she took her first very painful steps. He would often glance back to make sure she was doing ok, his dark eyes seeming to understand how much pain her little body was in.
Our first steps as a baby, after a surgery or illness are landmark moments in our life. To be able to stand, balance and move is a tremendous feat that shows we are doing better, getting stronger and the more we walk, the better we will be. For the rest of our lives, walking is something we take for granted, something we even avoid at times. This week in Sunday school we will be walking and meditating. While several forms of meditation draw the focus inward, walking meditation requires the attention to be placed outward. As we walk we will try to notice the feel of the sun and the wind, we will listen for the sounds of cars, birds, people. We will be thanking God for our bodies which are able to do this beautiful thing and that no matter where we walk, God is always with is. While focusing on the placement of each foot on the ground, we will calm our breathing and practice a technique that we can use for an hour of prayerful meditation or even just in the few seconds as we walk between classes.
Want to practice this on your own? Here are some suggestions for creating your own personal form of walking meditation.
Find a location. Find a lane that allows you to walk back and forth for 10-15 paces-a place that is relatively peaceful, where you won’t be disturbed or even observed (since a slow, formal walking meditation can look strange to people who are unfamiliar with it). You can practice walking meditation either indoors or outside in nature. The lane doesn’t have to be very long since the goal is not to reach a specific destination, just to practice a very intentional form of walking where you’re mostly retracing your steps.
Start your steps. Walk 10-15 steps along the lane you’ve chosen, and then pause and breathe for as long as you like. When you’re ready, turn and walk back in the opposite direction to the other end of the lane, where you can pause and breathe again. Then, when you’re ready, turn once more and continue with the walk.
The components of each step. Walking meditation involves very deliberating thinking about and doing a series of actions that you normally do automatically. Breaking these steps down in your mind may feel awkward, even ridiculous. But you should try to notice at least these four basic components of each step:
a) the lifting of one foot;
b) the moving of the foot a bit forward of where you’re standing;
c) the placing of the foot on the floor, heal first;
d) the shifting of the weight of the body onto the forward leg as the back heel lifts, while the toes of that foot remain touching the floor or the ground.
Then the cycle continues, as you:
a) lift your back foot totally off the ground;
b) observe the back foot as it swings forward and lowers;
c) observe the back foot as it makes contact with the ground, heel first;
d) feel the weight shift onto that foot as the body moves forward.
4. Speed. You can walk at any speed, but most important is that it feel natural, not exaggerated or stylized.
5. Hands and arms. You can clasp your hands behind your back or in front of you, or you can just let them hang at your side-whatever feels most comfortable and natural.
6. Focusing your attention. As you walk, try to focus your attention on one or more sensations that you would normally take for granted, such as your breath coming in and out of your body; the movement of your feet and legs, or their contact with the ground or floor; your head balanced on your neck and shoulders; sounds nearby or those caused by the movement of your body; or whatever your eyes take in as they focus on the world in front of you.
7. What to do when your mind wanders. No matter how much you try to fix your attention on any of these sensations, your mind will inevitably wander. That’s OK-it’s perfectly natural. When you notice your mind wandering, simply try again to focus it one of those sensations.

8. Integrating walking meditation into your daily life. For many people, slow, formal walking meditation is an acquired taste. But the more you practice, even for short periods of time, the more it is likely to grow on you. Keep in mind that you can also bring mindfulness to walking at any speed in your everyday life, and even to running, though of course the pace of your steps and breath will change. In fact, over time, you can try to bring the same degree of awareness to any everyday activity, experiencing the sense of presence that is available to us at every moment as our lives unfold.

~ Upcoming Events ~

Sunday, October 21
Team 3 Acolyting