{"id":3536,"date":"2024-04-02T07:27:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T11:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3536"},"modified":"2024-04-02T07:27:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T11:27:50","slug":"staying-on-the-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/02\/staying-on-the-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying on the Path"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

Before my two brothers and I got too old to attempt new outdoor adventures, we decided to hike about 45 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Our time together began like all such quests \u2013 with glorious optimism.

The AT is rugged and beautiful.\u00a0 It meanders more than 2,100 miles from Georgia to Maine through woods and over rocky peaks.

I outfitted myself with everything I thought might be crucial to my hiking success.\u00a0 We loaded our backpacks with sleeping gear, several days\u2019 worth of food, and generous supplies of water, since the heat index on these July days was going to push 100.

As we began trudging up our first hill, we felt the heaviness of our 30-pound packs.

It wasn\u2019t long before we received subtle reminders that our bodies had changed somewhat from our Boy Scout days.\u00a0 My younger brother Bruce actually turned 50 on our first day of hiking.\u00a0 As he progressively melted in the heat, we predicted the headline of the local newspaper:\u00a0Hiker Who Goes Over the Hill Dies on the Hill.\u00a0<\/em>

I felt confident.\u00a0 I\u2019m an active year-round walker.\u00a0 Little did I know that I had blundered on a crucial aspect of preparation.

I had borrowed the backpack that I was carrying.\u00a0 It had not been professionally fitted to my frame.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t worried, though.\u00a0 How hard could this be?<\/em>

Within the first hour I realized that the weight I was carrying was unbalanced.\u00a0 I began to feel like a contortionist, continually making physical adjustments just to go forward.

I began to pitch my weight forward, which put tremendous pressure on my left knee.\u00a0 By the middle of the second day I was hobbling and in serious trouble.\u00a0

I recalled the celebrated expression of horse owners: \u201cNo foot, no horse.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter what shape the rest of your horse is in.\u00a0 If it has one bad foot, everything stops.

I started saying to myself, \u201cNo foot, no Glenn.\u201d

Finally I came to a halt at one of the places where the Appalachian Trail crosses the park\u2019s main road.\u00a0 I dropped my backpack.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t take another step.\u00a0 My brothers went on without me.\u00a0

Ultimately I was able to hitch a ride with a nice retired couple from Brooklyn, who chauffeured me down the road to our planned stop for the evening.\u00a0

For the better part of the next two days, my hike was over.

Jesus had something to say to would-be disciples whose enthusiasm for spiritual journeying outstrips their actual readiness to walk:\u00a0 \u201cThe Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak\u201d (Matthew 26:41).\u00a0 Or as Eugene Peterson memorably paraphrased that verse in The Message:\u00a0<\/em>\u201cThere is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God.\u00a0 But there\u2019s another part that is lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.\u201d

On a hot summer day I stepped out of my regular existence and tried to excel at a life that required a serious commitment to wilderness hiking.\u00a0

I faltered.\u00a0

The same thing happens whenever I forget that my spiritual life has to be an actual life.<\/em>

Walking with God is not an occasional day hike \u2013 dropping in from time to time for a mission trip, devotional break, or retreat \u2013 after which I go back to my \u201creal\u201d world.\u00a0 The apostle Paul points us in a different direction:\u00a0

\u201cYou\u2019ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You\u2019re after one that\u2019s gold eternally.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m running hard for the finish line. I\u2019m giving it everything I\u2019ve got. No lazy living for me! I\u2019m staying alert and in top condition. I\u2019m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself\u201d (I Corinthians 9:24-27, The Message<\/em>).

Have you ever tried to run or walk or even crawl with God, only to see your glorious optimism fade away?

Don\u2019t give up.\u00a0 Begin again.\u00a0

We serve a glorious Savior, one who will make sure we learn how to stay on the path.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here Before my two brothers and I got too old to attempt new outdoor adventures, we decided to hike about 45 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Our time together began like all such quests \u2013 with glorious optimism. The AT is rugged and beautiful.\u00a0 It meanders… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,707],"class_list":["post-3536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-perseverance","tag-walking-with-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3538,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3536\/revisions\/3538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}