Right Foot, Left Foot, Breathe
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Sometimes, the only way to move through moments of stagnation, or uncertainty, or grief, is to take it one day, one breath, one step at a time.
Right foot, left foot, breathe.
— Pat Summitt (longtime Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach)
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
— Lao Tzu
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Food for Thought
I have always been on the move. Even as a child I spent active time swimming or riding bikes, but what I really loved was walking. I walked around the neighborhood, I walked to school, and often, on summer days, walked to the pool about 3 miles away. As I got older and worked a summer camp, I started hiking. Growing up near the Smoky Mountains, I was grateful to have access to some of the most beautiful trails. I found that movement, walking particularly, calmed me — the rhythm of my own feet, the steady cadence of my breath.
“Right foot, left foot, breathe.”
In the last few years, walking has become a spiritual practice. Each day after work, I come home to walk. My favorite time of day is the late afternoon, evening hour. The sun is lower in the sky and the shadows hug me close. Walking requires very little effort really. Get out of the door and go.
In January of 2022, I remember going for a walk in our neighborhood. We had just had a snowstorm earlier in the week, a rarity in Middle Tennessee. I received a phone call from a friend to tell me her wife was hospitalized and was to return home with hospice the next day. I know exactly where I was on the road. What I was wearing. How cold it was.
We knew this part of my friend's journey would lead to this. It was not a matter of if, but when. On this day, what was I to do — with this news that I knew would come but felt so unprepared for? I was literally and figuratively stuck. Stuck in fear. Stuck in grief. Stuck in an unknown future without a person with whom I have shared 25 years of life.
Here I was on one of the worst days of my life — walking and yet completely stuck.
“Right foot, left foot, breathe.”
These words rang in my head as I hung up the phone. I had to get myself home. Tears streaming. Eyes blurred. Cold. Still. ‘Just move, Khette. You have to move. You can't get home without starting. You can’t help your friend if you don’t start moving.’
“Right foot, left foot, breathe.”
It is so easy to get stuck. Stuck in anger, in grief, in jealousy — stuck in all the places we need to leave in order to begin again in a new way. Perhaps that is why this spiritual mantra of sorts seems so perfect. There is no direction given, we are simply encouraged to keep moving — to move our feet and breathe. That's all. Just move forward and allow the path to reveal itself.
I always want to know what the plan will be, the next move, and the next after that. But sometimes that's just not how life works. Sometimes the best we can do is simply take one step. Then another. Right foot, left foot, breathe. Little by little, you’ll get there.
Go for a walk. As you move, try to focus only on the rhythm of your own feet and the steady cadence of your breath. Take note of how you feel after your walk — mentally, physically, emotionally. Is it different from how you felt before your walk?
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For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
Loving God,
You are with us during our moments of grief and uncertainty, of anger and fear. Give us the peace of knowing that you are gently guiding us as we navigate our way through these moments, one step at a time.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Have you ever been faced with circumstances so overwhelming that you felt stuck? Share this experience with a friend.
How did you feel during those moments — did you feel scared, angry, defeated?
Discuss the ways that you felt God was with you, even in the midst of your trials.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Have you ever felt stuck? Perhaps trying to solve a difficult problem, or perhaps you’ve been physically stuck before?
What did you feel during those moments — did you get frustrated, scared, determined?
How did you get unstuck? Did you ask for help, did you rethink the problem, or did you just keep working slowly and steadily?
Meet our Welcoming Voice!
Khette Cox is an ordained minister who works as a chaplain in healthcare, and in her spare time is learning the piano, enjoys watching live music, and loves life with humor and a sense of the sacred. She lives in Old Hickory, TN where you will probably find her on her front porch with Felix, her Newfie mix, waving at her neighbors.
To hear more from Khette throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
Here are Five Things to Remember When Setting Your Own Welcome Table!