One thing I love about the autumn is the milder temperatures. Even once the high temperature of the day is only the 80s instead of the 90s, it makes it easier to go for a walk. Once the sixties and seventies are a norm, I can pretty much choose the time for my walk based on whatever openings I have. I can even walk multiple times during the day if my schedule allows!

Sometimes, I’ll admit, I find walking a bit boring. I mean, it’s just me and my thoughts. I spend a lot of time with me, so the footpath doesn’t mix up the dynamics much. If I walk and talk with someone, especially if we need to catch up on life, I can spend hours on the trail or meandering around the neighborhood.

But other times, I need the rhythm of my feet striking the ground to solve a plot twist or develop a character quirk. There’s something about the mindless use of energy that increases creativity.

And that’s not just me. A quick Google search and you can see that great minds of history from Thoreau to Hemingway relied on the power of walking to jumpstart the creative juices.

Obviously, the physical benefits for walking are what motivate me to go out when the weather is less than ideal or the writing for the day is complete. Hippocrates said long ago that walking is man’s best medicine and that continues to ring true. My trick knee behaves itself if I walk outside at least six miles a week. Treadmill walking, while good, doesn’t strengthen my knee in the same manner. Rather, that right knee requires the variation in the surfaces and gradation to keep the tendons strong that support it. It demands reality and what reality might throw its way, like a wobbly curb, or a sudden burst of speed to avoid a snake, in order to stay vibrant and healthy.

Spiritually speaking, reality tests our walk as well. How we interact with those around us, how we respond to obstacles and trials, how we deal with our own thoughts are all part of the Christian walk. I always thought it was interesting how often God called life our walk in Scripture. Enoch walked with God and then was not. Noah walked with God and obeyed and built the ark. Abraham walked with God and believed the promise, even when it looked impossible, even when it seemed God required the death of the promise through the sacrifice of Isaac.

 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 18:4, NKJV)

The majority of the 388 references to walk in my concordance are about life, not about the placing one foot in front of another. They are about the small, daily decisions that add up as a record of godly or self-serving, good or evil, heaven or hell.

Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. (Psalm 86:11)

Whether we’re marching toward Zion to celebrate God’s kingdom or walking through the valley of the shadow of death, each step echoes the choices above. We may need to put on a sudden burst of speed to avoid an attack from the enemy and twist an ankle. The pain should remind us to lean on God, but often, it turns us to grumbling instead. “Why, Lord? Why do I have to deal with this hard thing?”

Hopefully, we turn into reality instead of avoiding it. Hopefully, we let it strengthen our souls and our spirits, step by step.

It is easy, too easy, to avoid the walk. We can tune out of the world in so many ways. Distractions, diversions, and camouflages abound. But when we avoid our walk, we weaken spiritually. Just like my knee benefits from the stresses put on it by the path, ourselves grow better, stronger, more Christ-like when we walk with God.

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

And step by step.