I like to walk. I like to walk wooded trails among the trees and along streams. But I also like to walk the streets of cities. For the past 50 years I have been spending much of my free time walking city streets. For example, there are few streets or areas in Kansas City that I have not walked. And, for the past 40 years or so, I have been taking time off each fall to go to a city somewhere in the United States and walk its streets. I walk in the downtown area, in park areas, in upscale areas and not-so-upscale areas. If the city is near an ocean coast or has a lake in it, I walk the beach or around the lake. Peggy calls these trips my "URBAN CRAWLS." She is not overly thrilled that I take them as she feels I might be walking in areas that would not be considered 100% safe. Obviously, I would never do that (Forgive me, Jesus). I have walked some streets in Joplin that most of you probably have not walked.

I once walked from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to the very southern tip of Manhattan. I have also walked the beach in Los Angeles from north of Santa Monica to as far south to LAX Airport as I could get. Both of these were LOOONG walks. There are very few major cities in the USA, (and also a number of cities in Europe) that I have not "Urban Crawled" in my lifetime. I still do it each year, but the walks are getting a little shorter and take a little longer than they used to. I have often thought it would be nice when I died, that after the Funeral Service was over, God would allow me to say to the undertaker as they were loading my body into the hearse, "If you don't mind, I'll just walk to the cemetery." It would be a fantastic way to end my life on this earth.

By now, I know you are thinking, "Pastor Pape has lost it, maybe it's time to tell him to just 'take a walk' right now." But, I have a reason to tell you all this. One is, I rarely have shared this with other people except for some very close friends. The other reason is, these Walking Times are when I best communicate and talk to God. It is my Meditation Time. So next month my newsletter article will be: "TALKING (AND WALKING) WITH GOD."