I walked to work again today, walking the kids to school and then over to my office. It was great to have the extra time to chat with them and to talk about things we might not have in the car. My son, for example, saw our church steeple--what he referred to as the "roof thing"--through the trees as we got closer. He knew we were close when he could see it. This opened up a great dialogue about the purpose of steeples and a few comments about the location of heaven. We saw and greeted new neighbors, who looked at us like our car must have broken down. In fact, a church member who saw me walking home the other day asked me if my car had broken down. All this reminds me of how strange walking other than for exercise is in this day of the horsless carriage. I am reading Albert Y. Hsu's book, The Suburban Christian and came across a quote he included from The Week, May 9, 2003,

Americans are walking less than ever, but not necessarily because they're lazy, say health experts. It's because they can't. There are no sidewalks nearby, the school is miles away, and a six-lane highway separates home and stores"

Hsu also quoted from theologian Robert Banks

One of the key victims of the automobile is the experience of local neighborhood. Since people drive to and from their homes, they do not see, greet or talk with each other much anymore; since they go greater distances to shop and relax, the corner store disappears, and the neighborhood park empties, so removing the chief hubs of local neighborhood life.

Have you been on a walk lately?