By Charly SHELTON

You want to know something? Google. How’s your British cousin doing? Facebook. Want to be a cool super soldier in a future war? XBOX. Sitting by yourself for a few minutes? Angry Birds. Want more coconut oil delivered? Amazon. What’s the weather like? Okay, Google weather report.

In a world of instant gratification and access to immediate answers to any question, it’s rare to take the time to stop and smell the roses. Figuratively or, in the case of the Thoughtful Walking group, literally. In a hustle-and-bustle world, this group meets once a week to take it slow and walk through Descanso Gardens, contemplating a question or thought, meditating and smelling the roses (or whichever flowers are in bloom).

“The premise is so simple. People meet out front, I walk up and hand them a reflection question – it’s different every week, it can come from a philosopher, from a poem – I just find stuff. And sometimes we’ll have a question at the bottom, something that helps them focus. But they don’t follow it always,” said Rev. Anthony Keller, group leader from St. George’s Episcopal Church in La Cañada. “People walk for 40 minutes, usually by themselves – but there are no rules. And then we meet back at the café area, people get coffee and then we share what has come up and that’s it.”

The idea, Rev. Keller said, came from some of his parishioners who walked the garden weekly and discussed that week’s sermon. So he adapted the program to feature questions that are spiritual but not religious and invited everyone to join. While some regular attendees are from St. George’s, others come because friends told them about the group and still others from finding Rev. Keller’s post on Meetup, a social networking site for events. But from wherever they come, they are now a close group that extends beyond the garden walk.

“They’ve cared for one another when they’ve been sick. Afterwards [garden walkers] Janice [Croft] and another person usually go to lunch at Burgee’s. They opened that up to everyone, so the group goes there for lunch afterwards. They’ve almost formed this little community in and of themselves,” Rev. Keller said.

This group has been meeting for almost three years every week, rain or shine. When it’s raining, Rev. Keller is there to tell everyone [the day’s walk is] cancelled, but some want to walk anyway. Getting to know these gardens every week has an added benefit beyond just the contemplation of the weekly question.

“The other thing I found from walking [weekly] is people have discovered the personality of the garden. We see the environment subtly change over the seasons and they’re really into that. They tend to see nature as it expands and contracts and changes; the colors change, the smells change,” Rev. Keller said. “It really surprised me [because] intellectually, you know that gardens adapt with the seasons but unless you walk it weekly, you wouldn’t see it. Especially in Southern California.”

The group meets every Tuesday morning just before 10 a.m. to enter the gardens and then the walk lasts until 10:40 a.m. when everyone meets for coffee at the café near the gift shop. Discussion lasts for about 20 minutes. All are welcome to attend.

“There are no right or wrong answers to these questions or thoughts that go out,” Rev. Keller said. “They’re very broad and everyone’s opinion is cherished. And there are some who come and just listen. No one has to do anything, except walk for 40 minutes.”

  Charly Shelton