What thoughts come to mind when you read the title to this post? Do the ideas connect to a specific person, time, or place? Is it an unknown phrase and therefore offers no meaning to you personally? Perhaps, you are sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation of where I might navigate this conversation (sarcasm included)! For me, the first time I heard the phrase was related to mom’s work, which at the time was on a naval base; therefore, I contrived that to wish someone God Speed was connected to military lingo somehow. However, a little time digging on the world wide web led me to information related to John Glenn’s NASA journey in 1962 when a voice from mission control spoke these words: “Godspeed, John Glenn.” In this manner, God Speed means “a prosperous journey, may God prosper you.”

So, today the phrase may be viewed on a retirement plaque to wish someone success in their next season of life, or it may be voiced to a traveler engaging on a voyage, much like mission control intended for John Glenn as the space capsule shot into orbit; however, I would like to offer a different perspective on the phrase God Speed as outlined in Mark Buchanan’s God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul. Buchanan touches on similar ideas that I initially shared in the post Unhurried Life about the speed in which Jesus walked this earth, and my hope is to continue considering how differently culture’s approach to busyness is contrasted by God’s slower rate of speed.

Taking advice from Ron Barry usually benefits my life, and his last suggestion to read God Walk was no exception. Buchanan and I share many perspectives about learning to Take It Slow which seems so anticultural these days, but I think is foundational to a pilgrimage to discover a flourishing life, because flourishing happens at God Speed, it is slow and intentional, not fast and random. Buchanan shares that he walks “because three miles an hour seems to be the pace God keeps. It’s God Speed.” In his mind, Buchanan felt that Christianity might be lacking in having a corresponding physical discipline as other spiritual traditions do, so he suggests the oldest and simplest practice “to help followers yoke their faith to practice” is by simply walking.

Like me, you may have enjoyed reading stories of walking pilgrimages, whether based on true stories or fiction—like Richard Paul Evans The Walk series, which I highly recommend; however, rather than focus on the heroic or historical walking, Buchanan asks us to deeply reflect on the “Ordinary, unsung walking most of us do every day…walking is the way we keep pace with the three mile-an-hour God. It is God Speed. We walk with a God who seems in no particular hurry and who, it seems, enjoys the going there as much as the getting there. A God who is slow. This is a book about being alongside the God who, incarnate in Jesus, turns to us as he passes by—on foot, always on foot—and says, simply and subversively, ‘Come, follow me.’ Come, walk with me.”

To me, Buchanan is offering us a gift to engage in an intentional spiritual practice (that also has tremendous health benefits by the way), of just simply walking in Ordinary Time and in Everyday Faithfulness at God Speed. “At three miles an hour, that’s more than a two-hour walk. A long time to talk. A long time to think.” For me, that’s the amount of time it takes to enjoy a conversation with a close friend, to write a blog post, or to savor a delicious dinner across the table. Walking God Speed allows for us to be “attentive to the nudges and whispers of God’s Spirit,” to truly listen to others and enjoy “the language of walking.”

Buchanan offers many examples from Scripture about the language of walking, which truly is timeless. “Walking with God, walking in the light, walking in truth, walking in holiness, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, and suchlike—laces like footprints all through the Bible, start to finish. It is…the one physical discipline that the Bible consistently associates with a life of faith. It’s so common it’s almost pedestrian.” So, today, I would like you to consider walking at God Speed, to choose deep companionship with a three mile-per-hour God.

How might God desire that we slow our speed to walk with Him? What ways have you benefited from a walking pace in your life? Please consider sharing in the comments below.

References:

Buchanan, M. (2020). God walk: Moving at the speed of your soul. [Kindle version]. Zondervan.

Evans, R. P. (2010). The walk (walk series). [Kindle version]. Simon & Schuster.

God Speed. (2022). In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/godspeed-john-glenn-20161208