Walking differently

A few years ago I heard a brief interview with a gentleman who’d served as a sentry at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He was asked what the most difficult part of the experience had been, and his answer was immediate and intriguing: “Learning how to walk”.

If you’ve ever been to the tomb—and I hope you have—you know exactly what he was talking about. They don’t walk like anyone else in Arlington, or anywhere else for that matter. They walk differently. They walk in a manner worthy of their calling—whatever the weather or time of day, regardless of whether anyone’s watching or not—or they don’t walk there at all.

In this week’s Epistle reading, St. Paul calls us—you and me—to walk differently, too. To walk in a manner worthy of our calling.

But just what does that mean?