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The Editor Writes

Heather Fenton

Driving back from a funeral just now, I saw a small child balancing along the top of a wall and apparently enjoying every moment of it. She was so small, it would not have been long ago that people were saying of her, 'Is she walking yet?' These new skills, which parents long to see, are soon taken for granted and become the subject of experimentation, sometimes accompanied by frustration, for enjoyment or out of necessity. Like for the lady whose funeral I had been attending, growing older may mean the loss of this basic skill with accompanying frustrations. Yes, walking is important!

So in this issue of Quiet Spaces we explore the idea of walking. I explore walking through the eye of the Psalmist and, having an interest in pilgrimage, I have included a brief article about the history of pilgrimage and information about some walking pilgrimage routes. Margaret Harvey starts her column by adding three more ways of walking to the list I have, in her article 'Thinking about ways of walking'. Each of them has something to tell us about our walk with God, and together they could form an outline for a Quiet Day. Carol Jerman walks with some very unusual and interesting travelling companions while Tony Horsfall tells us more about Watchman Nee, a very brave man. When the Communist Party began to gain power in China in 1949, Watchman Nee learnt to stand his ground against those who wanted to eliminate Christianity.

David Spriggs from Bible Society writes about Psalm 23. There seems to be only one direct reference to walking - 'through the valley of the shadows' (v. 4, NIV) - but a closer look reveals that the image of walking is present everywhere. Holly Price points out that our journey through life is not a mission to earn the right, eventually, to rest with God - rather our starting point is rest, and we walk to live out, work out and enjoy the rest Christ has given us. Mark Berry is fascinated by St Brendan the Navigator and St Columba, and he tells us how these saints encourage him and those around him to 'walk with God in God's world'. Liz Pacey has written some prayers again this time. She imagines walking in various situations and gives us prayers which fit these, including walking to work or school, around the supermarket, walking alone and also with a dog, and a prayer for those who cannot walk at all.

So take a quiet stroll through all the good things just waiting for you to stroll past, to stop and inspect, and then go on refreshed in your walk with God. And if you would like to send comments or ideas about Quiet Spaces, there is now an email address for this purpose, so all you have to do is walk to your computer and email us on quietspaces@brf.org.uk. It would be good to hear from you! Also, you may like to think about taking out a Quiet Spaces subscription for a friend, or passing on your copy when you have finished using it.

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