Last Sunday, Suzy and I attended a different Episcopal church just for a change in scenery. The young deacon gave a sermon on one of my favorite passages in the Bible – “God walking in the garden of Eden.” Readers of the pew and my EFM mates know of my affinity for this image.
I have been lucky in my life to have taken a walk with some very important people, but the most memorable walks in my life are those walks with my friend, William, at six in the morning around my neighborhood. My friend, Mike, who flew to DC simply to take a walk with me the day I was indicted, and those walks up and down the beach with my friend Tom you have read so much about. Many more friends have gone for similar walks and are too many to mention or embarrass. But there is a warm place in my heart for each and every one. Then there were those many “slow walks in the woods” with my golfing companions, and those walks around a dirt track surrounded by razor wire and armed guards, where men from different worlds poured out their hearts and souls.
On all these walks we discussed a cornucopia of topics from religion, beautiful women, jobs, family, and whatever else that was on our minds. Although we didn’t always agree, I came to better understand myself and what I believed. Questions would lead to surprising revelations about ourselves. Those walks opened our eyes to understanding the world, and to the reality that no matter how difficult life may seem at the time — we are never alone.
The passage in Genesis triggered my memory of many walks, but more importantly of the passage’s most important message. God calls out to me and each and every one of us – “Come take a walk with me.”
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