Dear Inner Circle,
Most days, when I leave the Wayside Chapel building, someone will walk with me for a while. Sometimes it is to the next corner, and sometimes it is a conversation that starts at the door and ends several blocks later. Some of the most important conversations of my life have happened not face-to-face, but shoulder-to-shoulder.
Between one corner and the next, people tell you things. They talk about the petty and the profound, where they’ve been, where they’re going, how they’ve been wronged, what they hope might be different tomorrow. They are ordinary moments, but they are a good reminder that walking alongside someone, literally and in the way we show up for each other day to day, often starts very simply: sharing the path, listening, and not trying to hurry things along.
Walking has a way of making room for things.
I have been thinking about this as I prepare to walk the Snowy Mountains for the Three Peaks Adventure. I’ve committed to walking (the team assures me it’s not climbing) three of Australia’s highest peaks to raise funds for Wayside. Training for it has made the metaphor very practical: in life and in trekking, there is no way to skip the distance. You simply take the next step, and then the next one. You keep moving when the track gets steep, and it helps when you are not doing it alone.
The remarkable thing about walking together is how unremarkable it is. One step, then another, and a simple walk takes us somewhere much greater than we expected.
Thank you for being part of the Inner Circle,
Jon
Rev. Jon Owen
CEO & Pastor
Wayside Chapel