This just might be the most worthless sermon you’ve ever heard! Because, firstly I’m going turn into a school teacher and tell you about St James, our patronal saint, who I’m sure you know all about already and then I’m going to extoll the virtues of walking, to a congregation who live and love walking in the beautiful Surrey Hills. So quite genuinely, I’m preaching to the choir. 

However, it is customary to celebrate the Feast of St James at this time of year so you’ll just have to grin and bear it… what really appealed to me about St James as I considered this talk, is him being the Patron Saint of Pilgrims and the paradox of being still and walking. But before we get onto to that, let’s learn about the man!  

Saint James is also known as, son of Zebedee, brother of John, James the Great, James the Greater, James the Elder, Saint Jacob, Santiago or Son of Thunder! How cool is that, our Patronal Saint is James the Great, Son of Thunder! Sounds like one of the X Men. 

Rather disappointingly, however, James was the first apostle to die (after Judas Iscariot) in AD 44 and, and the first to be martyred. He was beheaded, by the sword, as we heard in our reading at the command of King Herod Agrippa. He lived fast and died young, sounds more like James Dean. 

But before his untimely death, he certainly made a lasting impression.  

James was the son of Zebedee and Salome. Salome was believed to be a sister of Mary (mother of Jesus) which made James the Great a cousin of Jesus. James is styled “the Greater” to distinguish him from the Apostle James “the Lesser,” with “greater” meaning older, rather than more important. 

He is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. Again as we heard in our reading, James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him. 

Along with his brother John, and Peter, James had a special place amongst the Twelve Apostles, in that Jesus allowed them to be the only apostles present at three particular occasions, the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the transfiguration of Jesus and time before his seizure in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Now you may be wondering why he is also known as the Son of Thunder. This was down to Jesus who was being amusing. Although Jesus changed the name of Simon to Peter, James and John were the only disciples upon whom he bestowed nicknames. The fiery evangelical zeal along with a fiery temper, inspired Jesus to – rather humorously – dub them “the Sons of Thunder”. We heard a good example in our reading when James and his brother wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan town. 

In Roman Catholicism, St. James is also the patron saint of pilgrims, soldiers, vets, pharmacists, and people with arthritis. He is also the patron saint of Spain, Galicia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Seattle 

His connection with Pilgrims is closely allied to his being the patron saint of Spain and Galicia. It is believed that St James travelled to and preached the gospel in Spain as well as in the Holy Land and that after his death, his followers carried his body by sea to Spain, where they landed at Padrón on the coast of Galicia, then carried it over land for burial at Compostela. 

It is from this connection that we get the world famous Pilgrimage, The Camino de Santiago – meaning the Way of St James, which takes Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Rather beautifully, Compostela means “field of stars” in English, which comes from the Latin “campus stellae” and is based on the stars of the Milky Way that, according to legend since the Middle ages, had been outlined by St James and followed by pilgrims to reach his tomb.  

Saint James the Elder was painted by Rembrandt in 1661. He is depicted clothed as a pilgrim, with a scallop shell on his shoulder, and his staff and pilgrim’s hat beside him. The French call scallops, Coquelle St Jaques which translates as Saint James Shells and also originates in the Medieval ages, when Christian pilgrims collected them on the beaches of Galicia and proudly brought them home as proof of their pilgrimage. 

And it is this link to pilgrimages that connects me to St James. I have an absolute love of walking, the longer the better. Kia thinks I’m totally bonkers and keeps telling me to relax, sit down, talk it easy and be still. I on the other hand, try and convince her that my rest and relaxation and stillness is found in activity, and especially walking. Am I talking a load of old nonsense? 

Psalm 46 v 10 says “Be still and know that I am God” and spiritual growth and vitality can start with the practice of stillness. In stillness, the busy mind can quiet and we can feel close to God in a real way. So do you do it, be still and know that he is God? How do you do it in your everyday life? There are those that will tell you that you must be still (not move) and be silent (not make a sound) to connect with God, your inner self and enlightenment, and this certainly works for Kia. The question is, can the mind be still, can the mind be quiet when the body is moving – my belief and that of many people who have ants in their pants is yes! For people like me, forcing yourself to meditate in physical stillness creates unbearable tension and I simply end up just getting annoyed. 

The connection between walking and thinking is ancient, dating back at least to the time of Aristotle’s peripatetic school, named from the Greek verb peripatein—to walk or stroll about—after its founder’s habit of pacing whilst teaching. Socrates strolled with his students, as did Rousseau and Nietzsche walked for up to eight hours a day in line with his conviction that “all truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” 

In the same way that songs with a high tempo can help us move faster, the rhythm of our feet on the ground can help organize our thoughts, preventing distraction, and boosting creativity. As opposed to sitting in a chair, moving the body can help stimulate the mind.  

This is so true for me. My love of walking has taken me on a Pilgrimage from our previous church at Wonersh to Canterbury Cathedral in 3 days. We arrived in Canterbury in time for the morning service, only to be invited to bring the wine up to Justin Welby at the altar and help distribute the sacrament… Justin in all his finery, me in a pair of shorts, walking boots and a rather smelly t shirt.  

But when I need to think or pray, or feel closer to God, I walk. My best prayers are experienced whilst walking, my best ideas come from walking, my appreciation of God’s glory and presence come when walking. 

And we are so blessed in this part of the country, while walking in a city requires us to be constantly alert, walking through the beauty of the Surrey Hills relieves mental fatigue because it doesn’t require our full attention. We can enter a state known as “soft fascination,” in which our minds are free to wander. I loved finding this quote from Albert Einstein which supports this idea; he said “I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.”  

No sermon would be complete without a challenge, so this is mine to me and possibly to you too. When we walk, whether it’s off to Canterbury or gently round the garden, do we simply plan the food for the week and mentally go through our To do list? Or shall we, could we, intentionally make it a Godly time, taking the opportunity to pray and connect with the divine, whilst swimming in silence.