Walkers cross county on way to D.C.
When the Rev. Eric Elnes first got the idea to walk across the country to try and dispel what he saw as the nation’s growing preconceived notions about Christianity, he tried to laugh it away. When that didn’t work, the Scottsdale, Ariz., pastor tried to walk away the idea.
Never one for exercise, Elnes said he walked 20 miles in one day, but instead of feeling exhausted and disheartened, he felt invigorated.
As a last-ditch effort, he met with a group of friends and discussed his inspiration, ready for them to renounce the idea.
Instead, Elnes said, they all rallied behind the suggestion, with one friend even offering to quit her job to volunteer.
Elnes then realized that the decision to make the trek already had been made for him – by a higher power.
On Friday, Elnes, in the company of six other walkers comprising CrossWalk America, walked through Fayette County on their way to Washington, D.C., four months after departing Scottsdale.
“We just wanted to provide an alternative to all the hate-mongering and the fear-mongering right now,” Elnes said. “We wanted to stand for something.”
Elnes, the pastor of the Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ, said that through the pilgrimage the group has been received openly, despite a few bumps along the way.
“All our objectives have been met or exceeded,” Elnes said as he pounded the asphalt on Route 40 between Brownsville and Uniontown. “We were picketed in St. Louis and we have met a few people who have not been supportive, but mostly we have met so many amazing people that understand that we are only trying to show Christians as Christians.
Elnes said the stereotype of a holier-than-thou, straight-laced Christian does not represent the majority of the nation’s faithful and that the walk was organized to show the country that some Christians do walk the walk, loving their neighbors as themselves.
The walk was simply the vehicle Elnes chose to show his love and the love of other Christians for all people.
According to Elnes, he and his fellow walkers, along with two documentary filmmakers and an recreational vehicle hauling supplies, travel about 28 miles a day. They hope to arrive in the nation’s capital Sept. 3. The team will have traveled about 2,500 miles by the end of the journey.
Elnes said he is in the best shape of his life since the walk began, noting he and the other walkers trained for some time prior to the walk.
And Elnes said it is the support of the people who have made the miles seem short.
“We have encouraged people to come and walk with us,” Elnes said. “We have groups from all over join us for a mile or two or 10. We had people from Florida who flew up today join us. The people we have met alone have made it worth it.”