11th January 2026
Walking into 2026
It will surprise few of you to learn that, during my leave last week, I did a lot of walking, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends - and, there's nothing better for chasing away the Christmas cobwebs than a good long walk on a cold, bright winter's day... apart, perhaps, from a good hot cup of tea on the sofa on the return from said walk.
Christians have long experienced the spiritual benefits of walking through the discipline of pilgrimage, walking alone and with others to special places, "thin" places and encountering the presence of God both along the way and at the destination. Pilgrimage has once again become popular in recent years, perhaps because, in our instant and fast-moving culture, having to move at walking pace is a good way to slow down and take stock.
Jesus in his ministry did a lot of walking. Many of his conversations with his disciples, many of the healings recounted in the gospel, many of his miracles happen "on the road". Jesus didn't get whizzed to his destination in a car or private jet. And the only time he is recorded to have ridden even a donkey is his entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The rest of the time, he walked. The walking ministry of Jesus inspired Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama to reflect in his book "The Three Mile an Hour God" on the theology of speed.
"Love has a speed," he writes. "It’s a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice it or not, at three miles per hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore the speed the love of God walks.”
At three miles an hour, the average walking pace, most of us can carry on a conversation, enjoy the scenery, look out to what is ahead and notice what is going on around us. At three miles an hour, we can attend to ourselves, our companions and those we encounter along the way; we approach the world in a way that is slow and deliberate, not rushed and inattentive. Three miles an hour is what Koyama describes as "the pace of grace".
I appreciate that a 12 mile walk is not for everybody! But all of us would benefit from slowing down from time to time. I wonder how 2026 might be different if, like Jesus, we slowed down to walking pace? I wonder how we might create space in our busy schedules for conversation, gazing at the scenery, responding to those we come across along the way? I wonder how, during this year, we might embrace God's presence in this present moment, and learn to trust God for the future?
