Sometimes our call is very simple. To walk with someone. To add our voice to another’s voice who speaks out for compassion and justice. This summer I heard such a call when CrossWalk America came through Columbus, Ohio. A small group of core walkers who began their walk in Phoenix AZ on Easter Sunday, April 16 had arrived in Columbus on August 6. Their walk would continue till they arrived in Washington, D.C. September 3 where they would join with others in a rally and celebration.
It was only a few days before they arrived that I knew they were coming. Perhaps six months before I had read about plans for the walk through a website link, but that was before they had determined a route through Columbus, Ohio. Their plans for encouraging meaningful discussion and for presenting a more compassionate picture of Christianity appealed to us. Our congregation has in the last year hosted several community Faith and Values Forums which gave people an opportunity to hear a range of informed presentations on several current issues. Small groups read and discussed both God’s Politics by Jim Wallis and Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter.
The first opportunity to hear one of the walkers was on Sunday morning. I missed it; that was the day I had volunteered to be with the preschool class. They were speaking at another church on Wednesday evening and I went. As they have walked across America, the core walkers have spoken in churches and through the local media to raise a voice for an emerging progressive Christian movement and to encourage meaningful discussion. One part of their presentation was to read the twelve Phoenix Affirmations which are oriented around the three great loves identified by Jesus: love of God, love of neighbor and love of self. Then, they gave us an opportunity to respond to what we heard in them. (You can read The Phoenix Affirmations on their website www.CrossWalkAmerica.org and in the paperback The Phoenix Affirmations written by Eric Elnes (ISBN 0787965763). Many of those walking shared their experiences that evening. I learned to my surprise that it was possible to walk with them the next morning for as little or long as I cared to walk. Just meet east of Kirkersville (about a 40 minute drive from my house) on US Route 40 about a half mile east of East Swamp Road at 7:15 a.m.; look for the marker flag that identifies where they stopped today. Wear comfortable shoes and sun screen. Their RV driver Ray would return me to my car when I was done.
My calendar was very full, but I did not have to be at work till 12:30 in the afternoon the next day. I would do it! If I was going to walk with them, the time was now. I would walk with them for a couple of hours in the morning I decided.
When you walk, you see
things you don’t notice when you whiz by in a car. That morning as we walked, we
noticed the beauty in farms, fields, small town streets, a new municipal
building, a restored historical building now architects’ offices, and then out
into the countryside again. People drive by and we wave hello. It’s easy to walk
and talk; so it was a good opportunity to visit with Rebecca Glenn, co-president
of Cross Walk America. A layperson, she quit her job with an information
technology company to be able to plan for this walk and then actually walk
across America. Her college age daughter Katrina is also walking. Rebecca told
me it used to be hard to talk about her faith in a way that felt comfortable.
Now it is easier because she begins with the walk and then she talks about being
a Christian. In the months since she began walking, she’s talked with many
people. I walked with Rev. Eric Elnes, the pastor of Scottsdale Congregational
United Church of Christ, AZ and co-president of Cross Walk America. Can you
imagine your pastor walking 2,500 miles for more than 4 months and the
congregation supporting his/her doing it? I walked with Mark Creek-Water who was
inspired by Cross WalkAmerica; he left Berkeley CA on Ash Wednesday to walk to
Phoenix and arrive before Easter (approx. 900 miles) in order to join them for
their walk of 2,500 miles from Phoenix to Washington, DC.
Walking is the mode of transportation for many people around the world, although not many Americans walk to get somewhere. When walking through the small town of Hebron, we saw a driver who stopped at a green light as he was so distracted by a small group of ordinary looking people walking together down the sidewalk. We carried no signs; we were just walking. (Walking?) “What are you doing?” It’s a great opening line.
Walking together is a small act of solidarity. Sometimes God calls us to small acts done with love.
Jo Anne Nay, Moderator of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, OH, is “Mom” to two daughters and “Granny Jo Anne” to four grandchildren. She’s been an avid reader of Faith at Work magazine since the early 70’s.
Photo credit: Scott Griessel/CREATISTA