Jesus showed up just when I needed the company and a new perspective

I absolutely love walking. I’ve enjoyed walking for as long as I can remember. I take the opportunity to walk as often as I can. One morning, I was visiting a friend who lived across from the Rondebosch Common in Cape Town. The Common is an open piece of land popular for running and walking. On that morning, I was trying to get my friend to go for a walk with me around the common. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out but it wasn’t hot. Walking is good exercise and is good for the soul. These are some of the things I said to her entice her to join me. She wasn’t too keen. Eventually, I gave up and decided to go walking on my own.

I’m not sure why her deciding not to join me for a walk upset me but it did. Perhaps I had been hoping to spend some quality time together. Perhaps I just wanted the company and felt a little rejected when I didn’t get it. In any case, I set off along the Common, walking briskly and purposely as I went, partly because of my mood but also because I was determined to get my exercise in, soak up some sun, and then get on with the day. I’m not sure that I initially enjoyed that walk. I started praying not long into my walk. As I prayed, I slowed down considerably and as I slowed down, I noticed a shift in my perspective and my mood.

I began to notice my surroundings, things that had been there previously but that I had not been aware of. I had been caught up in my thoughts. I had also been walking too quickly to notice. My focus shifted from one thing to the next as I walked around the Common. My attention would be drawn to something and I would just consider or notice it then my focus would shift to a different aspect. I wasn’t deliberately shifting focus. It was as if my mind was being drawn to something. When that happened, the things I’d noticed previously wouldn’t just disappear out of focus. The new aspect would augment the experience and I’d see or hear it all together as if it was being layered, one thing over the other. It was as if I was watching and experiencing the moments in concert. 

Initially, I noticed the sounds around me: the cars, the birds, the insects, and the leaves rustling in the wind. Then that was layered by sights of life happening all around me. I noticed the birds flying overhead. I saw some grasshoppers hopping about in the grass nearby. I noticed people going about their day. Then my attention was drawn to the cool breeze against my skin, offsetting the warmth of the morning sun. Eventually, my attention turned to my feet falling one in front of the other before me, and inevitably, my attention turned inwards to my thoughts and emotions. I immediately realised that I was enjoying the walk so much more compared to when I first started. As I continued to walk, I couldn’t help but see a parallel to life and draw some life lessons from it.

Slow Down

Often, I am busy and rushed in my day-to-day life. I’m sure you can relate to the need to get things done, ticking items off a to-do list, getting the proverbial monkey off your back, and keeping that productivity up. These are good things but sometimes, left unchecked, they can rob you of the joy of living. I often find myself caught up in and distracted by the challenges of the day or of the moment. How many things have I missed or not noticed as a result? How much enjoyment have I foregone? On the other hand, when I slow down, I can take in so much more and enjoy so much more. When I slow down, I become present which I find is a better state of mind to operate from.

Worship through Nature Nurture

Speaking of being present, as I became aware of the vegetation, the birds, the insects, and the life all around me, I also became aware of the litter. Sadly, there was litter on the Common and on the pavement that I was walking on. I was shocked because I didn’t remember seeing litter there before and thought, “When did this happen?” I felt saddened because it marred the beauty I had been enjoying just a moment earlier. “Look at your creation, God. Look at what we’re doing to it,” I said to God. I felt so moved I started to pick up as much trash as I could as I went along. It felt awkward at first, to be honest. I did it nonetheless because I felt like God was telling me that to nurture and take good care of the things He created and the things He loves is an act of worship.

Focus Outwards

When I first started walking that morning, I was inwardly focused. I was focused on the slight rejection I’d felt. I was focused on my need to get some exercise in for the day. I was focused on what I needed to do after my walk. I was also focused on enjoying my walk yet, ironically, because enjoyment had become a task to be ticked off a list, I wasn’t getting much of it. It was only after I started praying and focusing on God that I could sense what God was drawing my attention to and teaching me through my surroundings. Only when I slowed down and my focus turned outward to the beauty of life around me did I begin to truly enjoy my walk and appreciate my surroundings. Only when my focus shifted outward did I notice the state of the Common and could do my part about the litter I was seeing. I couldn’t help but be reminded that where I place my focus matters. I live life better and am a better person, in general, when my focus is on God, firstly, and outward on the beauty of life and of playing my part in the world.

Love,