In Praise of Sauntering

In Praise of Sauntering

I am writing this on the evening of our General Election, with the outcome unknown in this most significant of elections for some time.  I’ll probably wander downstairs at around 4am to get the result as I have done with quite a few in recent years.    What’s sauntering got to do with any of this?  

Well, the origin of the word appears to be ( though this is not conclusive) in the medieval period when there were numerous religious pilgrims on their way to various holy sites, including of course the Holy Land itself.   The Latin Sancte terre literally means holy ground and the idea was that although they could not all go to the Holy Land, because they were on pilgrimage, wherever they walked was holy land.   The abbreviation to saunter reflects the nature of such walking which was different from the ordinary busy and hurried walk of folk going about their business.  Pilgrimages in those days would take as long as they took, sometimes years and folk were rarely in a hurry, often stopping and going off on detours to see local churches or special sites and of course dependant on the generosity of the folk around them.

I was reminded of this today when I read these words about wandering as pilgrims:

Those who wander in this way have open eyes, ears and hearts.  Light shines in the darkness and they quickly move towards it.  Birds sing and they stop to listen.  Hearts shudder and they turn around.  Wandering in this way provides a kind of presence, opening the senses in subtle ways so that the response is free and nimble.  Wanderers like this are willing to discover lots of things along the way, even as they keep journeying forward.   In this age of anxiety and overload, embrace a slow but steady certainty that you are guided.  Take time to listen to birdsong.  Take time to quiet your heart.  God has always been here; are you able to listen?   Rachel Glazener.  CCCA 2019 Advent Project.


When was the last time you (or I ) just sauntered (although I know winter is not the ideal time!)?

 The photo is from the BBC Scotland photos of the week and is actually from a walk we do in Bishopbriggs.   Young children are experts at sauntering, their curiosity taken by this, that and the next thing…they have no idea that their parents have a particular end point, goal in mind for their walk or of the time limitations.  They live fully in the moment and look at what is immediately in front, walking very rarely in a straight line, but meandering between whatever they notice.   It’s beautiful to watch and is sometimes seen again in the twilight years of those toddlers, grown very old who once again have to walk slowly, can’t afford to be in a hurry and start to value the things that they rushed past in the busy intervening years.

During this election we have seen many photographs of the various party leaders in far flung parts of our islands, covering almost impossible mileage so that they can (hopefully) boost their party’s fortunes, particularly in marginal seats.  They all deserve full marks for effort, no doubt about that, as have the political activists and incumbent MP’s, some of who will be out of a job tomorrow.   Many will feel the loss hard after so much dedication and investment of hope and time.  The intensity of the election campaign though is in some ways a metaphor of our busy 21^st century lives; our heads down, our speed and energy and sheer effort all cast in bold relief.    I do not want to return to a medieval way of life, I think this is a great time to be alive!  I do believe though that whatever the outcome of this election there are deeper issues facing us than have been in the political manifestos.  We need to recover that sense of curiosity of things, and people and experiences ‘outwith our ken’, to be supple and free in our responses and to the opening of our senses and to be people who are willing to discover many things along the way.  

A healthy curiosity about those who are different, finding the time to slow down and notice them, to pay attention so we discover things we don’t already know can all go a long way to rediscovering holy ground.  Not as something to be defended and fought over but a recognition of the image of God in each one of us, that we are all on pilgrimages of our own, whether we acknowledge this or not.   Sauntering could bring us new friends, new self-understanding, fresh clarity, a deeper appreciation of where we are planted, more fun and perhaps a rediscovery of prayer.  A busy teacher who finally went on a retreat said to me afterwards: ‘Paul, I had no idea how close God was until I stopped and noticed’.  Let’s get out of our silo’s and go sauntering.