austraLasia 1474
'No more two, three, four wheels... but two legs, shoes and socks' - a saunterer's tale
"If you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk" (Henry David Thoreau, in 'Walking')
ROME: 4th March 2006 -- One could never imagine, writing tongue-in-cheek in #1439, "cheer up, there's always the horse", that it might just change someone's life! But it did, apparently. A confrere has written in - it is now one month since he was inspired by austraLasia - to point out that "horses here in ..... [the confrere's anonymity will be guaranteed] would be impossible and I would be confined to a Mental hospital if I had one, but after reading of your alternative solution, I decided to walk". Good for you. Henry David Thoreau, one of my favourite essayists once said: "The chivalric and heroic spirit which once belonged to the rider seems now to reside in—or perchance to have subsided into the Walker—not the Knight but the Walker Errant".
Father [we can reveal that much] is a chaplain to a local group of Sisters, and although the Rector permitted him to ride a bike, his life has 'fallen into the sear of the yellow leaf' as Shakespeare nicely put it, and the Sisters were worried. This true story takes place in a busy metropolis. "Now the interesting experience", Father goes on to say "is that once I decided to stop biking and start walking, I began arriving too early! It was taking me less time than with the car or the bike, and of course my health and eye sight were much improved". By now he is a real enthusiast: "After two or three weeks of doing this, I understand that walking saves a lot of time, avoids waste of time in traffic. Isn't it interesting? I think that many should try the same: less weight problems, less pollution, fewer financial worries...".
Father has learned to be a saunterer. Now that is an exquisite word and very appropriate to the season of Lent we have just entered. A saunterer is one who actually understands the art of Walking. A saunterer was a person, back in the Middle Ages, who roved about the countryside asking charity on the pretence that he was going à la sainte terre - that is, to the Holy Land! Then the children (the kids always see through these things) would exclaim, "There goes a sainte-terrer", a saunterer—a holy-lander". A saunterer, then. Mind you, Thoreau, from whom I took that little gem, also says that another etymology could be sans terre - without anywhere to live! But Father does have somewhere to live, and confreres to love, so he is a 'saunterer' in the most noble sense of that word.
"And what about on Sundays when I have to go further for Masses?" Father asks, then answers "well, I thought it would be necessary to bike again but I made the surprising discovery that....I am on time again. So, no more two, three, four or more wheels, no four legs, but two legs, shoes and socks".
And there you have it. Even when we're having fun we are obviously inspiring people to great things. Think of the Lenten meditations possible on walking and while walking. Wanderlust, Walkabout, Pilgrims. Why, you could use it as an interesting leitmotif for Reading the Memoirs of the Oratory, even: walking to school, meeting Don Calosso, walking to Turin, the wandering Oratory, Autumn walks, Grigio.......Let's leave it at that and a big, big thanks to Father for sensibly dodging the seductive luxury of the horse and taking the basic idea one step further - literally.
GLOSSARY
chivalric: from chivalry, reference to the Knights on horseback (chevaliers from a French word meaning horse)
Walker Errant: The Knight Errant was the roving Knight who stood against the King's injustice. Mind you, he could just as easily be Robin Hood!
leitmotif: a recurring theme or motif (usually used in music or art...or literature).
_________________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
'No more two, three, four wheels... but two legs, shoes and socks' - a saunterer's tale
"If you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk" (Henry David Thoreau, in 'Walking')
ROME: 4th March 2006 -- One could never imagine, writing tongue-in-cheek in #1439, "cheer up, there's always the horse", that it might just change someone's life! But it did, apparently. A confrere has written in - it is now one month since he was inspired by austraLasia - to point out that "horses here in ..... [the confrere's anonymity will be guaranteed] would be impossible and I would be confined to a Mental hospital if I had one, but after reading of your alternative solution, I decided to walk". Good for you. Henry David Thoreau, one of my favourite essayists once said: "The chivalric and heroic spirit which once belonged to the rider seems now to reside in—or perchance to have subsided into the Walker—not the Knight but the Walker Errant".
Father [we can reveal that much] is a chaplain to a local group of Sisters, and although the Rector permitted him to ride a bike, his life has 'fallen into the sear of the yellow leaf' as Shakespeare nicely put it, and the Sisters were worried. This true story takes place in a busy metropolis. "Now the interesting experience", Father goes on to say "is that once I decided to stop biking and start walking, I began arriving too early! It was taking me less time than with the car or the bike, and of course my health and eye sight were much improved". By now he is a real enthusiast: "After two or three weeks of doing this, I understand that walking saves a lot of time, avoids waste of time in traffic. Isn't it interesting? I think that many should try the same: less weight problems, less pollution, fewer financial worries...".
Father has learned to be a saunterer. Now that is an exquisite word and very appropriate to the season of Lent we have just entered. A saunterer is one who actually understands the art of Walking. A saunterer was a person, back in the Middle Ages, who roved about the countryside asking charity on the pretence that he was going à la sainte terre - that is, to the Holy Land! Then the children (the kids always see through these things) would exclaim, "There goes a sainte-terrer", a saunterer—a holy-lander". A saunterer, then. Mind you, Thoreau, from whom I took that little gem, also says that another etymology could be sans terre - without anywhere to live! But Father does have somewhere to live, and confreres to love, so he is a 'saunterer' in the most noble sense of that word.
"And what about on Sundays when I have to go further for Masses?" Father asks, then answers "well, I thought it would be necessary to bike again but I made the surprising discovery that....I am on time again. So, no more two, three, four or more wheels, no four legs, but two legs, shoes and socks".
And there you have it. Even when we're having fun we are obviously inspiring people to great things. Think of the Lenten meditations possible on walking and while walking. Wanderlust, Walkabout, Pilgrims. Why, you could use it as an interesting leitmotif for Reading the Memoirs of the Oratory, even: walking to school, meeting Don Calosso, walking to Turin, the wandering Oratory, Autumn walks, Grigio.......Let's leave it at that and a big, big thanks to Father for sensibly dodging the seductive luxury of the horse and taking the basic idea one step further - literally.
GLOSSARY
chivalric: from chivalry, reference to the Knights on horseback (chevaliers from a French word meaning horse)
Walker Errant: The Knight Errant was the roving Knight who stood against the King's injustice. Mind you, he could just as easily be Robin Hood!
leitmotif: a recurring theme or motif (usually used in music or art...or literature).
_________________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
