HOUSTON (ABP) — Pastor Ed Hogan lost about a dozen pounds since he started walking 10 miles a day, but he's more interested in talking about what he has gained from the experience — a closer walk with God and with church members.
Post-Christmas blues, the prospect of a new year's challenges, and reflections on A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson prompted him to begin a 1,000-mile pilgrimage during the 100 days leading to Easter.
At his invitation, church members have joined him on the journey — either physically or by reading his daily reflections in a blog linked to the church's website.
“I was feeling physically lethargic along with feeling spiritually lethargic,” said Hogan, pastor of Jersey Village Baptist Church in Houston. He decided he needed the discipline of a literal daily walk with God.
“My first thought was that I'd walk 1,000 miles in the 40 days of Lent,” he recalled. But after his wife convinced him 25 miles a day was unrealistic, he decided instead to devote 100 days to the 1,000-mile trek.
“I needed to walk, so I decided to make it a 14-week visual sermon illustration demonstrating our need to walk with God,” he said.
“The first 25 days were tough. From then on, it's been great. … I feel good now — much better than I've felt in a long, long time.”
During the 14 weeks leading to Easter, Hogan has preached on the ascent Psalms, prayers and hymns the Jews recited on a pilgrimage as they walked to the temple in Jerusalem, probably for Passover. The emphasis dovetailed with “The Path,” the church's interactive Easter drama.
As he preached on Psalms 120 through 134 and began his 10-mile-a-day walks, he recorded his thoughts in a blog at www.xanga.com/ehogan.
“There's a real discipline involved I didn't understand when I started doing it,” he acknowledged.
But he discovered church members connected with him at a different level when they read his daily Internet postings.
“I think of myself as a really confessional preacher — that I'm out there in terms of being honest about myself — but I've had people say, ‘Now [after reading the blog] I feel like I'm really getting to know you,'” he said.
The daily entries took on a special poignancy April 4 when Hogan wrote about his mother-in-law's death. He described the delicious brownies she made for her children and discussed honestly how her death affected his family.
“I realized yesterday that my children have been remarkably insulated from death. Because of my job, they know a lot about death; they just have not experienced it much first hand,” he wrote. “You could see the questions etched in their eyes. Questions they dare not ask, lest they seem inappropriate: What will she look like? Why did that cousin cry so much? What happens at the graveside?
“Life is best learned ‘hands on.' This is one of their first tangible experiences with something they will encounter with increasing regularity.”
In addition to church members who have joined their pastor in his walks vicariously through his blog, many have joined him physically.
Hogan averages 10 miles each day. Typically, he walks five miles early in the morning and five miles in the evening. But he sometimes divides his walks into shorter segments to accommodate church members who accompany him.
“A lot of church members have responded to the invitation to go walking with me,” he said, noting the time spent with members has proven invaluable. “People let their guard down more when they are walking than when they're sitting in a chair in a formal counseling session with a minister.”
“Sometimes, they pick the occasion of our walk to open up about some pretty dramatic things. One man told me he felt God's calling into ministry. Another told me he found out he had prostate cancer.”
Even so, Hogan believes some of the best conversations have been on the days when his only walking companion was God.
“The days alone are great days. It gives me a chance to think through issues and focus. It's added a great focus to my prayer life. I'll call people on my cell phone and pray with them. But a lot of time, frankly, I turn the phone off and spend time in quiet solitude and prayer,” he said.
By sticking to his 10-mile-a-day goal to reach the 1,000-mile mark, Hogan hopes his members learn a lesson about perseverance and “being in it for the long haul.” As the church enters a building campaign, that might be a good lesson learned.
Already, his example has inspired church members to make walking a daily discipline. Some use a half-mile trail at church for daily exercise and devotions, and some married couples have started walking and talking together.
“I just want to impress on our people the importance of that daily discipline and to get people walking with God,” Hogan said.
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