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Want to be more intentional in noticing God’s creation? If you usually listen to podcasts or music while you walk, for a time, try tuning into the life around you instead. Here are four ways to walk in wonder:
- Walk your outdoor path in the same direction for several days, focusing on a different sight or sound each time. For example, on one of the days let your eyes be caught by roots pushing far beyond the tree trunks onto the path.
- On another walk, pay attention to textures and scents in the vegetation you pass. How do different leaves feel to your touch – which are sticky, which sweet smelling?
- Devote one day to prayer. As you walk, whisper a prayer for trees…for rocks beside a stream…for waters that are in some places still and in others rushing…for climbing vines and thick underbrush…for fallen limbs.
- Recall music that praises God’s good creation. Hum familiar tunes as you walk. Later, look for hymns that celebrate woods or streams, tall grasses or wild creatures, calling us to deeper reverence.
This message is excerpted from “Walking in wonder” by Jennifer M. Ginn in the September/October 2022 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Dag Hammarskjold, renewer of society, 1961.