Walking With Rocks

Walking with Rocks, or

Listen While You Walk

First Draft Written March 5, 2017

Delivered to Yorba Linda 3rd Ward March 19th, 2017

Last Friday about mid-day, I decided I would "go for a walk". I actually have a set routine that I follow when I "go for a walk". I start by going out the back gate in our yard. I then pick up two special rocks (or perhaps you might call them small boulders) from their resting place near the gate. I carry these rocks with me throughout the walk. As I begin my walk, I slip and slide part-way down the steep slope behind our house until I reach the concrete storm runoff gutter which runs across the face of the hill and ultimately takes the rainwater down past the tennis courts and the "Dog-Park", which together make-up Orange-Olive Park. I then follow the storm runoff gutter back upstream to its end (which is really its beginning). And there I climb up another steep but manageable slope and find myself on Nohl Ranch Road.

Next, I stride down Nohl Ranch Road past the Public Elementary School on the left and the Religious Elementary School on the right and then turn down Nohl Canyon Road until it dead ends into Santa Ana Canyon Road... By the way, are you familiar with The Strawberry Field at that end of Santa Ana Canyon Road? That's where I found my special Walking Rocks... Anyway, I then follow Santa Ana Canyon Road for a couple of blocks or so and make my way through Peralta Hills until I come out at the corner of Crest and Royal Oak. I go up Royal Oak, cut through the church parking lot at the top (where I generally stop to do some stretching) and then get back on Nohl Ranch Road which becomes a pretty good up-hill challenge all the way back to Villa Real Drive; left on Villa Real Drive, a quick right onto Terra Vista Lane, through the security gate and I'm home; I put my Walking Rocks back in their special place by the gate and go inside to start my rehydrating process.

Oh, and the whole time that I am on my walk, I have ear-buds in my ears which are hooked up to my iphone which in turn is tuned to one of my favorite Customized Pandora Radio Stations. The Music is just as important as The Rocks!

And why do I carry the rocks, you might be wondering. Well, moving the rocks up and down and from side to side during my walk allows me to work my core, upper body, arms and hands in my exercise scheme. At my age, I have to be as efficient as possible.

So on this particular Friday, for some reason, I decided that I would break with my routine and go straight down the hill behind our house, past the runoff gutter, straight to the tennis courts and then work my way past the dog-park to Nohl Ranch Road from there. It would be a meaningful challenge for me to get down that hill unscathed and required my full concentration. However, about two thirds of the way down I suddenly realized, I had forgotten to pick up my rocks. I looked back up the slope towards the rocks'-resting-place and thought, "no way am I going back up that slope"... But I needed my rocks!

Facing this dilemma head-on, I negotiated a compromise in my mind; I would walk "Rockless" to The Strawberry Field where I originally got my "Walking Rocks" and there I would find two new rocks which I could then carry the rest of the way back home. It was a fair compromise!

As soon as I got to The Strawberry Field I made my way through an opening in the fence into the rock laden area I knew would provide my replacement rocks. It wasn't all that easy to find rocks that would be just right for the job. I would see one that looked about right only to find out after kicking and tugging at it that the unseen and buried portion of the rock made it much too big to be a "walking rock". Others came loose immediately with a kick from my walking shoe because they were too small. Finally I found one that was just right!

One down and one to go.

Having found my first rock, I stood straight up to catch my breath and stretch my back before finishing my rock hunt. As I did, I glanced around a bit and determined that I wasn't alone. About fifteen yards away in the elbow of where two fences met at a ninety degree angle, and under branches which extended over the fences from a very large tree on the other side there was a man lying on his side; sound asleep! His knees were bent as if he were seated on a bench, his hands were serving as his pillow keeping his head off the ground. His Levi Coveralls, with one strap over his right shoulder and the other strap at his waist, mostly covered him from a little above the waist down. The tan on his shirtless back suggested that he had spent plenty of time in the sun. His short haircut seemed to match his two or three week old beard both in length and in the amount of salt mixed in with the pepper. I think he was homeless.

I was startled by his presence! And I was afraid he might wake and wonder what I was doing at the edge of The Strawberry Field kicking at rocks and holding a boulder in my right hand. I bent back down and continued my search; but I kept one eye on my sleeping friend. I quickly found my second walking rock and tip-toed out of the field, through the fence opening and back onto Santa Ana Canyon Road. I had escaped with my new Walking Rocks and he was none the wiser.

As I continued my walk, now with the benefit of having two proper Walking Rocks, I couldn't get the sleeping stranger off my mind. A verse in Matthew, 25:40 came to mind; ..."Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"... about the time I got to the corner at the other end of The Strawberry Field, I thought to myself, "what if when he woke up he were to find a twenty dollar bill under a rock at the foot of his bed"? That was a fun idea.

But I just kept walking; I was listening to one of my favorite OLD Country Western music stations... I'm talking Hank Williams, Eddie Arnold, Patsy Kline; Real Old Stuff!!... A favorite tune was playing, but as I listened to the words, they weren't all that uplifting. So I switched stations; I was now listening to my favorite church hymns station. As I continued walking, I found myself singing along... "have I done any good in the world today..." familiar words. "...if not I have failed in deed..." As I sang these words to myself, I thought of what I had just experienced in The Strawberry Field... in light of what I was now singing!... But in my own defense, I reminded myself, "you're wearing your jogging pants (which I converted to Walking Pants for my purposes), you don't carry any cash in your Walking Pants! I was off the hook, even if I wanted to leave a twenty dollar bill for my sleeping friend, I just didn't have one.

Not so fast; I told myself. Just before your walk, you had to go to the bank to arrange for a wire transfer to fund a transaction you had in process. Since you knew that just like every other time you had ordered a wire transfer, the banker needed to see your drivers license; you put your wallet in your Walking Pants pocket. It's still there, you're not off the hook after all.

Ya but!!! I only carry emergency money in my wallet; just hundred dollar bills. My "walking around money", including a twenty dollar bill or two is folded-up and setting on the counter in my bathroom. I don't have a twenty with me!

Well, I turned around and headed back towards The Strawberry Field, it felt very strange; a cross between how I remember feeling just before I asked my wife, Sandee to prom for the very first time and how I felt just before pulling off a really great Halloween Stunt. The current song playing in my ears happened to be written by my maternal grandmother's great-uncle, William Clayton, "Come, Come, Ye Saints". "...Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so; all is right. Why should we think to earn a great reward If we now shun the fight?..." "...All is well, all is well..."

This time, as I passed through the opening in the fence near my 'rock quarry', I very quietly and slowly approached the still slumbering stranger. As far as I could tell, he had not moved even an inch while I had been gone. I had already removed the hundred dollar bill from my wallet and replaced my wallet back in my Walking Pants pocket well before I got to the fence. It was a crisp bill with no creases, just the way I like em.

Please don't wake up, I thought to myself. I inched my way towards his feet. I saw his baseball cap lying on the ground not far behind him. I carefully picked up the cap; it was the kind with an elastic band, you know, one size fits all. I tucked the crisp hundred dollar bill into the pliable hat being careful not to wrinkle or fold the currency and replaced the cap a foot or two behind my new best friend.

Still undetected, I stepped back a couple of steps before turning and once more slipping through the gap in the fence. As I left the scene, I increased my escape pace until I was sure I had successfully pulled off my caper. I looked over my right shoulder and saw exactly what I wanted to see; Nothing! His slumber continued.

Somewhere before I got all the way to Royal Oak, I found myself singing along to another hymn..."And when I think of God, His son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in, That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, My savior, God , to Thee, How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art"...

Brothers and sisters, I cannot even imagine a better way to spend a hundred bucks...I'm thankful that on that Friday I listened for and followed the promptings I felt in my heart.

May we all be more open and responsive to the promptings of The Holy Spirit in our daily lives. May we become more faithful to our Father In Heaven by becoming more like our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.