YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET UP AND WALK

You see what happens when you actually get up and walk. I did today.

John 5 vs 8 tells the story of one wanting someone to do something miraculous for them. A man unable to walk wanted to walk but no one ever helped him. His disability not only affected his body but also his mind. He made excuses for not being able to help himself. Jesus simply said, "GET UP AND WALK." In response to the spoken word of Jesus, he immediately got up and walked.

This morning after my prayer time, I heard the prompt, “Get up and walk.” I did not want to go walk that early in the dark and cold. The next thing I heard was, “You have a five minute window to get going.” 

After explaining to Bonnie what was happening; I got up, dressed, and took off. I even went the opposite direction of my usual path.

After walking a half-mile, I stopped to pray and meditate at a fountain flowing red. I made a video of it. Next stop was a half-mile later to make a note to myself. I am enjoying being out. I love to walk.

Today, I walked with expectation of an experience. I do not know whether in the sky, on the ground or in myself.

You see what happens when you actually get up and walk. A quarter mile later, I feel a bit frustrated. I speak out loud saying, “OK, I am out here.”

The next thing I see is what I believe is a slow walking elderly woman that I will need to pass. I announce I am coming by on her left.

She said, “I know. I have been listening to your footsteps.”

I told her, “I did not want to risk scaring you.”

She said, “I am not scared. Recently, a 19-year-old boy attempted to sexually assault me. Police arrested for protecting myself as the young man wished he had left me alone. Police quickly released me with no charges after they got the complete story.”

My mind is a buzz. This woman is why I am out here. I shared with her my work of creating film that deals with the sexual assault men have committed on women and children for the past 100,000 years.

Next, I asked if I could walk with her for a couple of minutes to talk.  She said yes because she did not really like walking alone in the dark.

“Are you ready to tell you story on video?” I asked.

“If it will help other women, I will be pleased to tell my story,” she said.

I now learn my new friend is a survivor of pastoral sexual abuse as a child when 9 years old and sexual assault as a teen resulting in the birth of her first child. My heart never ceases to break when hearing the record of these kinds of events.

It wound up she was walking to the neighborhood where I live to meet a friend to go to work. We made a plan to see each other after she gets off work this afternoon to talk further.

This is the takeaway. Listen to the still voice that speaks to you. I cannot make that logical. I am acutely aware of what I would have missed if I had not followed its inspiring direction.

I got my first couple of miles walk in for the day. I met a woman soul I needed to meet with a story to tell. I cannot tell you who was there for whom. Whether I was there for her or she was there for me is not nearly as relevant as the fact we met because I got up off my comfortable warm bed with my wife and walked.

When the still voice prompts you to get up and walk, by all means, get up and walk. We met again after she got off work. We talked and made an agreement to work together.

What made this moment even more interesting, I have been searching for an indigenous woman for Project I'm Alive. The search is over, A Cherokee Woman has come because I got up and walked. You see what happens when you actually get up and walk.