Healthy walks can be faithful, too, group says

Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 12, 2004

A brisk stroll can be so much more than exercise. It can also be an expression of religious devotion and an act of social justice.

That’s the idea behind a new online walking guide published by Texas Impact, an interfaith advocacy group based in Austin. The guide, "Walk the Talk," shows the unfit faithful how to set up walking schedules based on the distances of six key biblical routes.

To walk the 73 miles Joseph and Mary covered to get from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem, for example, an average adult could amble leisurely for 30 minutes each of the 40 days of Lent. Like fasting, said Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact, reflecting on the Bible while walking can be a "Lenten thing."

For added incentive, the guide points out that peeling yourself off the sofa for a walk is as good for society as it is for the waistline. Overweight, out-of-shape people strain health care systems, taking away resources from those who need them most, she said.

???The guide, which can be viewed at www.texasimpact.com, will soon include walking plans based on routes from Islam and Buddhism, Moorhead said. Despite their sacred sources, the suggested walks are not to be confused with religious pilgrimages, she said.

"But hopefully you’re getting your heart rate up," she said. "The benefit of this would be the same as a pilgrimage of sorts."