Australian Spirituality-Walkabout I

I’ve always loved to travel; my first time taking off in Qantas plane was one of the most exciting experiences I had as a kid. I must admit, I still get excited taking off 15 years later! I’ve traveled many parts of the earth, been privileged to live in big cities, and come from a country where 4 weeks of paid annual leave is deeply embedded in most job descriptions.

I have the travel bug…and it may be a spiritual condition…

Indigenous Australians have a tradition they call walkabout; the concept is simple. A person will announce to their family and tribe that they intend on going walkabout. Then will proceed to walk away, roaming the earth, with no agenda, no fixed destination and no return date. They are roaming the earth, seeking out its secrets, hoping for a mystical, spiritual, transcendent encounter along the way.

Australians love to travel; we are in some ways the most isolated nation in the world, roughly half a day from any other major city or continent. Yet Australians travel the world over because the walkabout ethos has captured our imaginations. We cannot be content with what we have seen and experienced thus far; we must search for more, explore the unknown and experience the unfamiliar.

I’ve been drawn repeatedly over the last 5 years to the stories of Abraham in the scriptures; I’ve always been struck at how bold, adventurous and obedient he was in stepping into the new thing God was doing when he called to leave all he had and become a wanderer. A walkabout. His journey was mystical…spiritual…full of transcendent encounters with one known only as the Lord God. Perhaps this ancient figure from another place has much to teach us about the re-discovery of the Australian walkabout. Maybe Abraham is our Father in a more profound way than we ever imagined.

Have you ever wondered if the travel bug, the inability to settle, the relentless pursuit of new experiences…journeys…cultures…was actually a core piece of what it means to be human…to be spiritual…on right terms with God? Have we reduced our faith to pulling up the drawbridge, protecting the kids and posturing for an onslaught…when we should have been roaming the earth, leaving the security of the familiar for the rush of the mystical? Doesn’t it say somewhere…that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…that’s what the ancients were commended for?