On the Way to the Way 9: Let's go for a walk together

If I were to guess I would say that there will be more posts from the in-between, but for today I would like to jump to the very end of Charles Foster's The Sacred Journey.

The Buddha's last word to his disciples were "Walk on."

The first words of Jesus to his were rather different: "Follow me."

Jesus said some other things, too, but as a summary of the four Gospels,

"Let's go for a walk together" is not bad. pg. 212

Now that is a great summary of the gospels, no more so it is a great summary of the entirety of Christianity. All that this [religion/philosophy/way of life] really boils down to is a decision to talk a walk with Christ. Yet, we manage to gum up the works with so much fluff: rules, regulations, doctrines, creeds, commandments, hoops to jump through, classes you much attend, an amount of money you must give each week. It's no wonder really that so many people decide against taking that particular walk, especially since they are never told that, that is what Christianity really is.

 I find myself wondering from time to time how many people have decided against Jesus because of my actions. I have spoken very highly of Jesus for some time, talked about what he taught us, and yet so often I fail to miss the mark. At the base of most of my current writings is the hope that my transparency about my failings might make up for all the previous times when I claimed I had none. 

I know, its a weird way of looking at things, but I honestly believe that if we [Christians/disciples/followers of Jesus/those on the walk] were more honest about the way we screw up more people would be willing to listen to what we have to say. Instead we too often act high and mighty, holier than thou, better than those who don't claim Jesus, which honestly couldn't be further from the truth, because we fake it, and they are usually honest about their failings.

Let's go for a walk together. A walk that is never easy and is never perfect. A walk that will have twists and turns, ups and downs, and the occasional pit stop and u-turn. But if we decide to walk with Jesus, be it for a specific 500 mile walk, or for the journey of our life we are promised that we will never be alone. It's a promise that should be especially meaningful to us, especially in our current times of disconnection.

Burn Camino,
Pastor K