perambulations

On Sunday this week, we did a lot of walking. Fourteen folk, mainly our youngsters were involved in the Circle the City walk for Christian Aid; they visited lots of City churches, met people, heard music, and raised significant money through sponsorship. (And if you sponsored and haven't paid, please pay soon - and if you didn't sponsor, donations are acceptable even so!)
Others of us who felt less energetic took part in the Holborn Churches Perambulation; we walked to the three churches in this area, ourselves,
St Georges Bloomsbury (http://www.stgeorgesbloomsbury.org.uk/)
and St Anselm's and St Cecilia's (www.rcdow.org.uk/lincolnsinnfields)
We had the chance to go into each building, and hear something about the life of the congregations and the areas. We had the chance to have conversations as we walked as well, and get to know each other better.
There is something about walking together which is not only fun, but is scriptural; we have several stories in the gospel of Jesus walking with his disicples, including the wonderful story of the walk to Emmaus. We have the account of Paul's travels, including the road to Damascus. And all of those stories are deeply rooted in the overarching story of the journey of the people of God, exemplified in the story of the journey through the desert to the Promised Land.
So, what are we doing when we walk?
We noticed several things about in our various walks on Sunday. We needed to walk at a speed which included everybody - which wasn't easy, as some walk fast and some slow, and so we needed to vary our speed, stop and wait, allow others to go on without worrying, and trust we would all meet eventually. We had to take into account the environment we went through - there was traffic, and traffic lights, there were other people going in other directions, there were the hazards of scaffolding, there was the rain and the dust. Our walking was not in isolation, but in the world we are part of, and we interacted with it as we went - and talked about it! We talked as we walked; the shifting and reshaping of the various groups brought us into contact with a variety of people, and the journey itself gave a place for the conversation to start from - very helpful for the shy among us. As we talked, we discovered something about each other, and began to tell stories.
What else might walking together teach us? Do let me know.