Faith Venture

In the land where I grew up the oldest human structures dated from the 1790s. AD. Or CE if you are an historian.

We have just returned from a couple of weeks touring the western edge of Turkey (Turkiye) and  the east of Greece. Once all Greece. Of course then Roman, Ottoman Muslim, then independent.

We visited Ephesus. The Apostle Paul walked those same marble streets that we just did. As did the Apostle John who accompanied Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Before travel all of this is theoretical. Just something I read perhaps in the Bible or other history. Perhaps taught in school.

Traveling we stood right there. We could see marble structures that were there more than 2,000 years ago. This is where history was made. This is where Paul spoke about one true God. Where the economic livelihood of many depended on selling silver trinkets to religious tourists to the Temple of Artemis. Where they led a riot to the auditorium trying to capture and kill him.

And where John brought Mary to escape the ravages of Jerusalem. Where John also spoke of the one God, also threatening the livelihood of the silversmiths. When he agreed to leave town to go to the island of Patmos, he provided a house for Mary out of town on the mountainside to offer a measure of protection from the mobs.

Here is a photo of her house and one of the streets of Ephesus.

My point is to encourage travel. Burst out from your preconceived ideas. Experience the world and other people.

We are drilled on efficiency and productivity. I was a “GTDer” for some time—Getting Things Done (David Allen). 

That begs a question, What do we miss by dashing from one focus to the next all day?

When I exercise in the morning, I quit running but I walk as fast as I can for about 40 minutes before tackling the rest of my fitness routine.

In the afternoon, however, I like to just wander outside. Look for birds and muskrats and trees and other people. There is a phrase in French called being a flȃneur. A flȃneur strolls and observes without a plan. I like going into downtown Chicago to just stroll and look at people and things. One of my favorite philosophers these days, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, calls what he does and writes about the results of being a flȃneur.

In fact there exists a management philosophy called Management By Walking Around. This is called Gemba Walk in Lean Manufacturing. There is a rich history to getting off your chair and moving.

Sometimes we get into such a rush we have no time to think and observe.

Do you have a problem you are thinking about? Looking for an insight into a spiritual teaching that just isn’t coming into focus? Take a walk. Be a flȃneur for a bit. Insights will come to you. Better have your little Field Notes or Moleskin notebook or iPhone to take notes. Preparation will pay off.