Walking our Way through Lent
From Ash Wednesday six weeks can seem a long time, with Easter Sunday a vanishingly distant dawn on the horizon. Especially if you plan to forgo an addictive prop for the duration, like smoking, or sugar, or scrolling your phone.
Taking part in Cafod’s annual Big Lent Walk, on the other hand, can feel more like stepping out purposefully on a pilgrimage, a steady progress through the lengthening days as the light gradually increases and the earth awakens.
And when at times the walk feels more like a trudge, you have good reason to carry on. This year’s good reason was to raise money for those in the world who have no choice but to walk many kilometers to find water for their daily use. As a Lent walker, you cover an average of 5km a day for 40 days, you ask friends to sponsor you, and Cafod uses the money to support communities to build clean, safe water access.
This is the fourth year that our parish has taken on the Cafod Big Lent Walk. A group of us pool our walking distances, and combine the donations our fellow parishioners generously provide. It fits well with the Live Simply ethos: Living Simply, Sustainably and in Solidarity with those in need. Walking itself is a simple, sustainable method of getting from A to B. It is quiet, companionable, takes up little space, only burns our personal energy. It allows for reflection and prayer. And the Lent Walk is a fine example of solidarity, both within our parish – walkers and sponsors making common cause – and without, sharing our lives with those who do not yet have a tap to turn on when they need a drink.
C. Timmins. St. Vincent’s S10. 2500+ km covered; £1282 donated. Attached image: By Derwent at Dusk. Nicky R.
