I have lived in or near the city for much of my life; and from time to time I debate in my mind or among my friends, whether we are better off in the city, or would we be happier in the country. And as to this, the city wins many points, because it has restaurants, schools, health facilities, and, well, people; while the country on the other hand offers solitude and peace and a pace that is good for body and soul. But it’s boring, say my friends. Over the years, I’ve had good opportunity to reflect on this question, as I take long walks in both city and country; and since it’s early June, I’ve had many a long spring city walk, and am set to soon have a summer full of country ones. But first of all – what is a “walk” to me? I walk for a number of reasons, but the most important, is a time to be with God.

In our modern world, it is all too easy to not have time for God. We get up, go to work, pay our bills and taxes, take the kids to soccer and etc, but seldom have time for God. Some of us go to church and Bible study – which are both good ways to keep essential appointments with our Creator, but other than that, interaction with God is usually just a tired and short prayer said at the end of the day. That’s why my walks are different; as they are never less than three hours. On a three hour walk, it is impossible to not come in contact with some sign, statement or message from God. But first, let me talk about the prayer part.

As I start the walk I have a lot of energy, which causes me to walk at a fast pace, while my head turns left and right to scan everything that is going on. This lasts about an hour, as I walk through the parks and cut across school yards, and then things abruptly change; I get really tired – especially in my legs; but worse, I also get mental fatigue. My mind doesn’t bounce around from thought to thought, and I’ve cleared up all the thoughts that have been with me. It is at this point that prayer is possible. At first, I run down a list of all my family and friends; going person by person, and telling God of the needs of each individual. I know that this isn’t necessary, because God knows and looks after each person’s need even before the person knows he has one; but I do it nevertheless. This is an important point: God knows everything about us before we know it ourselves. God has an eternal plan, and everything that happens, is part of it. Nothing happens by accident or surprise. One of the points of praying for others, is that we make ourselves aware that other people need help – possibly our help. A prayer for somebody is a record that we are aware we are responsible for others; however, I don’t believe it should end there. A proper prayer should also ask God how we can help the other person.

This is the point – or the fork in the road – where many Christians take the wrong path. They pray for a person in difficulty, and assume that God will send someone to help the person, but that “someone” – is often the person who has said the prayer. We must not fool ourselves into thinking that because we have prayed for a person, that this is enough; rather, we should pray and ask God if we can be given the honor to help the individual. Oops! I’ve done it again: I started out on the subject of walking in the city and country, and look where I’ve gone. Oh well, never mind; stick with me and let’s see if I can get back on track. Prayer and walking.

As I walk, I look for objects in the distance that are about a mile away – say an apartment or office building, and as I walk towards them, I pray for one person in particular. I visualize the person in my mind, and think strong good thoughts about him or her. I mix that with reciting some Bible verses that apply directly to the person. With each step, I force or grunt out petitions to God on behalf of the person, and would you believe it; the walk has power to it. Each mile gets a prayer for a different person, and by the end of my walk (about eight miles), I have prayed in depth for about that many people (not to mention burning about seven hundred calories). In between these “power prayers,” I pray down a list of about fifty little prayers – about a thirty seconds each, for general things, like Christians being persecuted, healthy babies being born, and relief for grieving families. These prayers are fast and short, with not much concentration – I’ve now walked about five miles – but I believe they get results, because the are constant. I see them as water being placed into a glass, drop by drop. At first nothing seems to happen, but then the level gradually grows, and eventually – you have a whole glass. (Particularly welcome during and after a long walk.) If I prayed inside a building, it would be difficult to do this.

The next advantage of the walk is that there is nothing to disturb me from thinking about God – no computers, no dumb conversations, no nothing. (Or no anything, if you are picky about the grammar.) The walk also allows God to speak to me in His, rather than my, time. God is not an “on demand” God; He doesn’t show up when and where you want Him. To reach God, you have to Go to Him; and wait. For some this is a long process, but for me, on a good walk, God will speak to me over a dozen times. At random, I’ll share some of His thoughts with you.

On a typical walk, I cross between areas that are middle class, to lower middle class, to poor; and one obvious feature, are the schools. In the middle class areas, they are new, small, often have pools, and the playground stuff is painted, exciting and in good repair. In the lower middle class areas the before mentioned go down, and in the poor areas, things are different. Here, the schools are old and large, there are no pools, and the playground stuff is rusted – merely an old swing and slide. The grass around is yellow and bare and the trees look like survivors, rather than the carefully planted and coordinated ones of the wealthier areas. In the wealthier areas, the kids are playing organized baseball and soccer with uniforms, while their classmates relax under the shaded trees and cheer them on; while in the poor areas, the kids play basketball in the school parking lots, some with water or garbage filled potholes. I’m not kidding; this is what I see.

What is God saying to me here? Well, first of all, that the secular government cares little for the poor; it is the middle and upper class that have their attention. It shows that the poor have no voice or rights in this world, as they are given garbage, or nothing at all. My walks teach me that the middle class – including Christians – never see what the poor have to live with. I also assume that in many cases, the good teachers try to get into the nicer schools, which leaves the poor at an early disadvantage in life.

Next, I walk by the apartment buildings of the poor, and sometimes walk in. I see dim lit hallways, thirty year old carpets and wallpaper, spray painted gang signs in the stairwell and garbage rooms; and the smell of decay everywhere. I see water and rust stains on the ceiling, and threatening management signs everywhere. In this, God teaches me humility, and to get on my knees and thank him for what I have. When I am in these places, I see the comings and goings of the new immigrants; and it is heavy on me. They are shuffling off to their lousy jobs, and then coming home late, just to do it all again the next day – six days a week, and for minimum wage. Some of them are also illegal immigrants, so for them – minimum wage isn’t even a possibility. I wish my fellow Christians could see this.

As I walk through the back streets, I see a lot of mental illness; with people passing me giving angry even violent looks, and some having imaginary conversations with themselves. I think to myself: what would happen if we sold our fancy cars and didn’t take our expensive vacations; and instead, spent the money on curing mental illness? I mean, surely God would honor these people with a cure. Next to that I think, what would happen if we actually talked to these people rather than crossing the street to avoid them? Seriously: What would happen? Well, for starters, God would bless us. In Mathew 25:35-40 Jesus tells a story to highlight this. Two groups are standing before the King (the King represents Jesus); and both groups are anxious to get into heaven. Jesus states: “The king will say to those on the right; ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father [God], inherit the kingdom [heaven] which has been made ready for you since the beginning of the world.” He has stated that heaven is for the group on the right; but why? Jesus then states: “The King will say,’ I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.’” On hearing this, the group on the right says to Jesus, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?” To this Jesus answers: “Truly I say to you, when you did it for the poor, even the least of all the poor, you did it for me.” The answer is clear: When we help others; we help Jesus.

I then think of those who laugh at and make jokes about those with mental illness; and my response goes from anger to pity to prayer. I have talked with many people with mental illness, and I can assure the reader, that it can happen to anyone. They are not inferior people (nobody is inferior to anybody); rather, they are people who had abusive families, parents who drank, generations of poverty and predjuidism; and quite importantly – the neglect of much of the Christian community. A middle class kid, who has had his parents pay for his education, gone to private schools, and had his dad get him into his career; cannot understand the despair of the people I see.

As I leave the residential areas and walk along the main streets, if I keep my eyes and ears open – God speaks and shows me things. First are the luxury car dealerships, where the salesperson pampers and fawns upon the potential buyer. The showrooms in these places look elegant, and the cars are buffed and shinned like they should be exhibits in a museum of modern art. But when I walk behind the place I see the mechanics, greasy and oily, smoking and coarse joking; I see the rusted parts removed from the undercarriages of these fine cars, and I think how silly it all is. The client doesn’t know how superficial his luxury car is; as one day soon, it will just be rusting junk. What would have happened if the $80,000 had been spent on the poor instead?

Next, I walk by the sports and other bars along the way. I think of the parasitical relationship that exists. The bar creates a false home for the drinker; where for the cost of a large TV playing sports; the drinker wastes away his life, buying his drink and sitting with total strangers – doing nothing. I think to myself, what if prohibition (outlawing alcohol) had worked? What if Christians for once joined together and boycotted businesses that sold alcohol? What if Christians protested in front of bars? What if? What if? Of course, this will never happen; as most Christians are too weak and selfish to care an once about things like this; and the Devil knows it. But what if we did obey God by caring for this who have alcohol, drug, and other problems?

Next, I walk by the movie theatres, where I see the large sign offering movies about sex and war and perversion. In 2008, $10 is what it costs for a movie ticket; but what if we bought the homeless man a meal instead? If a movie theatre sits 200 people – that’s 200 meals. Hollywood is made up of layer after layer of every sort of creepy person; with the result being the movie industry. It’s all about escapism rather than confronting our problems, and in glorifying anti-Christian themes. The modern movie promotes selfishness, violence, and tries to abolish Christian values, at all cost.

I then see the community centers, which have replaced the church as the gathering place of the community. On their notice boards I see signs promoting meditation classes, eastern religions, tribal folklore appreciation courses, and the rest of the garbage. But not a single sign about a church. I ask myself, how can a nation that is still predominantly Christian, surrender itself so willingly to the Devil? This nation was founded on Christian principles – that of selflessness – the pioneers worked together for a common goal; and yet everything in these community centers is about me me me; it’s about glorifying and celebrating the individual. Again as in the schools, the community centers in the poor areas are of a much poorer quality.

Particularly disturbing in the poorer areas, are the “holistic” medicine places; as I see people going into them and coming out with packages of special herbs and remedies and potions and concoctions. These places prey on the lack of education in much of the poorer areas. Lottery ticket sales are particularly popular among these areas as well, as the poor are so desperate to get out of where they are. Selling alcohol (in Canada, this is even done by the government for a huge profit), holistic medicine, and lottery tickets (also sold by the government), are pure poison in the poorer areas.

In these areas I also see dignity. I see old black ladies carrying their heavy groceries long distances; I see innocent games of pick-up ball in parking lots; I see gardens with flowers, and I see some poor kids with happy barking dogs. How beautiful the dog is. He doesn’t care where he lives or what his social level is; he just loves his family. I see poor kids carrying books and laughing, and I see some good old churches stubbornly hanging on and being true to their mission: to bring the love of Christ to the world, while caring for the poor. Some of these same churches have plaques stating they are over 150 years old, and it makes me think. I see their bells, and steeples and such, and think to myself: when all is gone, God will remain.

In my walks in the country, God speaks to me in different ways. He shows me that I am totally dependant of Him as I see the fields and the crops growing on them. I see that if God didn’t provide the sun and rain, then we would die in an instant. Further, if he didn’t protect us from insects and bacteria and the rest; then we would again, be doomed. The country also teaches me to be quiet. It teaches me that I am just a little bit of dust in something very large. I learn that by myself, I can accomplish nothing; that it all depends on what God does with me. When I look at the old country cemeteries, I realize that all the power, education and prestige of the world will pass – sooner than we think. I see that we are finite; we must prepare for heaven; and in the country, this is easier to do. In the city the distractions of everyday keep up from thinking about eternity; but my walks, alone in the country, make me think of little else. As the sunny sky slowly turns to the sigh of dusk and then to the starriness of night; I look up at heaven and am humbled. As King David pondered many thousands of years ago as he looked up to the heavens: “What am I [the human] that you [God] care for me.” God gave us everything we have; and dignity is one of those things. He chose to love us – even though we were and are entirely wicked…simply because He loves us.

The conclusion to my talk here is that it might be a good idea to take a walk in some poorer areas to see how they live. It might also be a good idea for Christians to get involved to make change for the poor, rather than seeing them as just some abstract statistic; after all: God will hold us totally accountable for our lives. Think about it please.