Walk with Jesus, the Great Physician

Walk with me, I will walk with you

and build the land that God has planned

where love shines through. Voices United  649 (chorus)

 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them...   

Luke 24:13-15 NRSVue

The other day good 'ol CBC Radio The Current offered a hopeful interview with Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist from Ohio. Back in 2005 Dr. Sabgir realized that asking his patients to get out and exercise wasn't working so he began walking with them. The program, called Walk With A Doc, has spread to nearly 600 communities around the globe in the 20 years since. He began out of the realization that encouraging patients to be physically active wasn't working and even writing prescriptions for exercise wasn't effective either. He ended up inviting one patient to walk with his family on a Saturday and it has grown so that many colleagues in various disciplines volunteer their time to join him with up to a hundred patients for each gentle ramble. 

This sparked a lot of thought on my part. Nearly 30 years ago a funeral home in Sudbury where I was in ministry brought Rabbi Earl Grollman to speak about grief. During his talk Dr. Grollman touched on "motion controls emotion", the importance of physical movement as a form of healing. He had a rocking chair in his office for those who weren't able to walk. I could see the parallels with addressing the anxiety and spiritual pain people would describe when they sought me ought so I began asking individuals if they would like to meet on a waterfront trail not far from the church. While the denominational rules about doing this became more restrictive over time I did so for years in different congregations.

We also offered congregational saunters in different communities and in Sudbury as many as 60 people of all ages would join us. As it turns out, this Saturday there will be a congregational walk at Trenton United organized by Rev. Isaac and others and we will participate. 

Dr. Sabgir spoke of the benefits of these walks being physical, emotional, and spiritual and I know from experience that this is true. A lot has been written about the benefits of walking for clarifying thought and it may be related to our bipedalism, that humans uniquely walk upright and our brains are stimulated by this form of movement. I will add that we personally benefit from cycling, paddling, cross-country skiiing as well. Time in Nature/Creation changes our perspective and brings us joy. 

                                                        The Road to Emmaus -- Jorge Cocco

Of course, Jesus was a walker and Luke tells us that after the Resurrection he joined two of his despondent followers on the road to Emmaus to reveal the Good News. Some congregations use the chorus of the hymn Walk With Me as a Sending Forth, so why not take it literally as well as figuratively? All credit to Dr. Sabgir for Walk with a Doc but we can all get a move on with Jesus, the Great Physician.

Here is the link to The Current interview:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16135189-how-patients-moving-walk-them-doctor-says