Walk This Way
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
A good walk (though I really enjoy a long bike ride when the weather is warmer) can be a surprising dopamine boost to start the day. The physical activity, the breathing in of outside air, and taking in our surroundings have all actually been things scientifically observed to trigger reward responses in our brains and contribute to mental health.
In the passage coming up for this week, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, it mentions what is facing the Isrealites as they end their wandering in the wilderness after being liberated from slavery in Egypt. As they cross the river Jordan, Moses proclaims to his people what God has revealed to him about what is coming next: "I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity."
When I take a walk in our neighborhood next to the church, I normally am with my wife Becky and our daughter Zoë is strapped to either one of us in a baby carrier we can wear. And even here in our own neighborhood, I find Moses' words to ring true.
Because there is both life and prosperity here on our slice of West Colfax as well as death and adversity. I see life in the park near the church with ducks that waddle around the creek and families enjoying the playground as well as some of our homeless neighbors enjoying a peaceful snooze in the grass under a tree.
But I also see death and adversity. I see the effects that desperate use of cheap drugs has on some of our neighbors who either sit motionless on the bike path while hiding in their coats or are shambling slowly and aimlessly along the bike path. I see angry fights and lived experiences of misery. I see the commerce of these drugs at the Wadsworth RTD station.
Life and death. Blessings and curses.
I think we can find both of these anywhere. And while I don't want to only see what is painful and death-dealing--I wonder if becoming aware of this is how God speaks to us about what God's will for our life is. Because shouldn't there be a balance between life and death? I am not sure if that balance exists in our neighborhood.
If the shelter operation we engaged with in partnership with St. Bernadette's Catholic Parish this week revealed anything it is that no matter what the county is currently able to do--there seems to be a relentless onslaught of poverty in our community that is in dire need of radical systemic response.
And while churches aren't really the best places for a system-wide response to be deployed, I do wonder if the church and our faith communities have another important role in addressing the balance between "the blessing and the curse." Because we should be a moral voice for our community, and right now I think our community has a problem with hatred.
On another walk, I came across a sign that originally said "PRIVATE PROPERTY - VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED" but had the words "violators" and "prosecuted" scratched out and replaced with "homeless" and "harassed and executed (!)" replaced so that the sign read "PRIVATE PROPERTY - HOMELESS WILL BE HARASSED AND THEN EXECUTED."
Photo Credit: Ben A. David Hensley 2023
Wow. And this sign is less than a 5 minute walk from our church.
How can we be the faith community whose work is to rebalance our neighborhood more toward life? More toward acceptance? More toward inclusion? More toward love?
I think we should be taking more walks in our neighborhood--not only for our mental health, but also for our spiritual awareness to the life God is calling us to live and the work God is calling us to do!
