My Church: A series dedicated to long walks, contemplation, inspiration, and healing
Praying can seem intimidating. But you know what isn't intimidating? Taking a walk on your favorite trail, listening to the red rocks crunch under your trail runners, and letting the sun rays over Pike's Peak speak a myserious wisdom into your soul.
This series was born out of my experiences with "prayer" in Austin Bluffs Open Space in Colorado Springs. The townhome I called home for the past 3 years was close enough to this park that I could walk to it in the middle of the day, after work, and on the weekends - whenever I needed it. It was truly my place of refuge. It was My Church.
Photo: Austin Bluffs Open Space
"I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done?"
- Mary Oliver from "The Summer Day"
These are my favorite lines from one of my favorite poems.
For someone who grew up Catholic and is still moved by a spiritual connection to something outside of myself, the idea of "prayer" has evolved over my lifetime. It once looked like holding hands, repeating the "Our Father" in mass with my family on Sundays. It later looked like me lying on the floor of my bedroom, asking a lot of questions and making requests of God. Now, it often looks like me taking a walk in the open space, gazing across the golden plains in silence.
