{"id":297,"date":"2019-03-21T05:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T10:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=297"},"modified":"2020-04-02T10:09:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:09:07","slug":"reactions-on-the-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=297","title":{"rendered":"Reactions on the Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<audio id=\"wp_mep_1\" src=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/m4a\/Journey%20Notes%2016%20Reactions%20on%20the%20Journey%20Accomp.m4a\"     controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\"  >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/audio>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\njQuery(document).ready(function($) {\r\n\t$('#wp_mep_1').mediaelementplayer({\r\n\t\tm:1\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t,features: ['playpause','current','progress','duration','volume','tracks','fullscreen']\r\n\t\t,audioWidth:,audioHeight:\r\n\t});\r\n});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<p>We may have the sense that this is our journey.\u00a0 We set aside the time.\u00a0 We choose to go.\u00a0 We read.\u00a0 We pray.\u00a0 We are doing this!<\/p>\n<p>Before getting too wrapped up in ourselves, though, we need to remember that the destination existed before we were born.\u00a0 The way was already prepared.\u00a0 Salvation is by grace.\u00a0 Faith is a gift.\u00a0 &#8220;We&#8221; didn&#8217;t do this.\u00a0 It is simply history going through the process of becoming our story (or perhaps our story going through the process of becoming history&#8230;).\u00a0 To quote one wise old man, &#8220;There is nothing new under the sun.&#8221;\u00a0 In making this pilgrimage we are not acting.\u00a0 We are reacting, just like the generations before us.<\/p>\n<p>There is nothing surprising in this.\u00a0 It is a theme of humanity.\u00a0 People are reactionary.\u00a0 On the darker side of our history, Eve reacted to the serpent.\u00a0 Adam reacted to Eve.\u00a0 Cain reacted to Abel.\u00a0 When God banished him to wander, Cain reacted by complaining that the punishment was too great for him to bear.\u00a0 All of that happened in just two generations, and it is sad to say the tradition continues today.<\/p>\n<p>We are not doomed to failure, though.\u00a0 Enoch walked with God.\u00a0 David was a man after God&#8217;s own heart.\u00a0 Elijah found God in the sound of a whisper.\u00a0 Saul became Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus.\u00a0 All of them were reacting.\u00a0 Instead of reacting to temptation and anger, though, they were reacting to God&#8217;s love and power and grace.<\/p>\n<p>In the early 1800s Rev. George Croly was given a challenging assignment to reestablish a congregation in a church that had closed more than a century before.\u00a0 He could have reacted by quitting or complaining about the unfair task, but he didn&#8217;t.\u00a0 Instead he looked to God and reacted to grace.\u00a0 He preached the Word.\u00a0 He served the community.\u00a0 The church grew.\u00a0 At age 74 he began a project to prepare a collection of hymns, which included one which is still used today, <em>Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart<\/em>.\u00a0 The words capture our need to react to the presence of the Lord in our lives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;<br \/>\nwean it from earth; through all its pulses move;<br \/>\nstoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art,<br \/>\nand make me love thee as I ought to love.<\/p>\n<p>As you continue your pilgrim journey today, ask the Spirit of God to descend on your heart.\u00a0 Experience the love that God has for you, and react by sharing that love.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart (United Methodist Hymnal #500)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JPnflXO78wA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Follow the Path!<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><em><strong>CARadke<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>[Use with <em>Action and Reaction<\/em>, day\u00a016 of <a title=\"Order your copy of A Labyrinth Pilgrimage today!\" href=\"https:\/\/www.createspace.com\/3366946\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>A Labyrinth Pilgrimage<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We may have the sense that this is our journey.\u00a0 We set aside the time.\u00a0 We choose to go.\u00a0 We read.\u00a0 We pray.\u00a0 We are doing this! Before getting too wrapped up in ourselves, though, we need to remember that &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/?p=297\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts-about-the-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1118,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/crosslabyrinth.com\/JourneyNotes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}