What’s your favorite way to get your walking miles in? Do you listen to fast-paced music? Maybe some hymns or worship songs? What about catching up on your favorite podcasts? How about silent walking?
A New Fad
Yes, this is a new fad that’s become popular recently. When you engage in a silent walk, you intentionally put your phone away. No podcasts, no music, no phone calls—just the sounds of nature, traffic and your own footsteps and thoughts.
What a concept! But it isn’t new. Way, way back in the day—before walkmans and cassette players with massive headphones, I practiced silent walking. Because that’s all we had! To while away the miles, I did math in my head (yes, I’m a numbers nerd). I would calculate my pace per mile. It kept me occupied while I exercised.
Now, silent walking is back in style. Which proves there is, in fact, nothing new under the sun!
Sound of Silence
I accidentally stumbled into silent walking. In a rush to walk before the temperatures soared, I pushed “go” on my Fitbit and headed out the door. Then I realized: no earbuds! What would I do with no noise to take my mind off heat and exercise? Rather than waste time going back inside, I just walked without music or podcasts. It took a minute to get used to the sound of silence, but then my senses took over. I felt the cool air when I was in the shade. The smell of freshly cut grass tickled my nose. And I heard something wonderful. Birds singing!
Walking briskly, I spotted a variety of birds. A bluebird flittered overhead quickly dropping to the ground after a bug or worm. When he flew away toward his bird house I could see the vivid, deep blue on his head and wings. Next was the rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker. Scanning the sky, I finally saw him on a utility pole, the bright red of his head giving away his location. Blue birds, blue jays, woodpeckers and cardinals brightened my walk.
Silencing the Noise of the World
With the symphony of birds as a backdrop, my brain shifted into neutral. It started meandering, automatically thinking through and solving minor problems I had. Without the noise of the world, my brain was free to discover solutions I needed.
Although I was “silent walking” I heard a lot that day. I sensed the Lord whispering “Maybe now you can hear Me!” Ouch! I had been hearing and listening to the noise of the world, a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 12:1).
What I needed was to hear God’s still small voice, His gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12). And then I understood—the noise of this world numbs us to the voice of God. When we silence the noise of the world, we can hear the voice of God
Even when we don’t think the noise of the world infiltrates, it does. We may be reading from the Bible app on our phones. When a text interrupts, we check to see what’s happening (The girls were having lunch, was I coming? Next, my great-nephew had a pinning ceremony, celebrating his emergency nurse residency. I’m so proud of him!).
We begin our quiet time by opening our Bibles, then suddenly we have to check the weather for the day—on our phones! It’s easy to slip from the weather app to Facebook. And before you know it, we have the noise of the world crowding out God’s voice in our lives.
The more we hear the world, the less we hear from God. Oh, He’s trying. But we don’t recognize His voice.
I challenge you to set aside time this week with no electronic devices. Go for a silent walk. Focus on the voice of God. Listen to Him. Hear Him.
For His Glory,
Do you know Jesus?
