Make our steps count

MODERATOR

THEY say that confession is good for the soul, so let me start with one! I confess that in the build up to this Moderatorial year my thoughts have mainly been occupied by the General Assembly. It was not until the Assembly was over, that I dared to take a closer look at what the diary held for the following year, although of course, I did have a rough idea of the theme I would like to pursue should I manage to survive the week in the chair.

Not only did I manage to survive the General Assembly, but I can tell you that during it I was incredibly conscious of the prayers of the people in Dornoch as well as of the prayers of colleagues and members of the church, the length and breadth of Scotland and beyond – all of them carrying me before God.

Never in a million years did I think I would walk in to the Assembly on the cry of ‘Moderator’ and not burst into tears.

Never did I think that I would actually enjoy the banter of the Assembly amid all the serious and important business before us. But I did.

As I look back, I truly believe it was because so many of you were praying for me. So – thank you!

Now as the year ahead gets well underway with all the possibilities and challenges it holds, I realise I need your prayers more than ever. It is incredibly important to me that the words I speak and the things I do throughout this year, are God-inspired and point to Christ who called me to this role. But I want to ask even more of you. Please will you join me in that call? Because I don’t think it is meant for me alone.

I would love us to walk together through this year. Why? Because walking is good for us in terms of keeping us active and it – but it is also good for our mental health and walking has, of course, always been a deeply spiritual activity. From ancient times, people of faith have walked as a means of finding and growing in, faith. It is also true that walking gets us out of our cars and of the buses, so it’s good for the environment as well.

Can I ask if you might be willing to walk with others where you are, in order to promote physical or mental, spiritual or ecological health in your community? Or all of the above?

It doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. Perhaps get people from diferent churches or from diferent faith communities together, to walk and talk. Or simply diferent ages. Maybe sit down with those who are homeless or ask someone from a local women’s refuge to help you understand the journeys some families have to take. How about organising a prayer walk where you live – where as you walk past the school, you pray for teachers and pupils….as you walk past the health centre, you pray for those who are sick and those who tend and care for them… and pray too for local businesses – for jobs and the job-less.

Let’s find a way, not just to count our steps, but to make our steps count. ¤ The Rt Rev Susan Brown is Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2018/19.

The Rt Rev Susan Brown

“Can I ask if you might be willing to walk with others where you are, in order to promote physical or mental, spiritual or ecological health in your community? ”

This article appears in the August 2018 Issue of Life and Work

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