Taking to the Pavement
Among the many advantages of walking in the suburbs is this one: It is difficult to read a newspaper while doing it. Am I the only one who feels that there is almost too much bad news to absorb these days? Chaos in the Mideast. Nuclear peril in Japan. A humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Today’s only good news (Kentucky’s two-point win over Ohio State in the final seconds of the NCAA “Sweet Sixteen”) happened too late to make it into the Washington Post. And so, I close the newspaper, lace up my walking shoes and take to the pavement. It’s my way to make things make sense.
One thought on “Taking to the Pavement”
There is so much bad news these days. It can become overwhelming. But a walk, listening to the quiet, can be so soothing.
I was reading from an old friend yesterday, Thomas Merton, on the subject of silence. Man makes lots of noise. We think we can run the world, rule the world, change the world. But the tree brings forth its blossoms, its fruit in silence. Nature, which is coming alive again, works in silence.
Merton: "Whether the house be empty or full of children, whether the men go off to town or work with tractors in the fields, whether the liner enters the harbor full of tourists or full of soldiers, the almond tree brings forth her fruit in silence."
"The Lord is watching in the almond trees, over the fulfillment of his words. Jeremias 1:11."