October 21, 2024
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 NRSV
A little over a week ago, Rod and I took the two younger granddaughters to The Farm at Court Manor to enjoy their fall activities, including a pumpkin patch; a petting zoo; a hay barn with a haybale maze, sliding board for those who managed to climb enough bales of hay to reach the top; a climbing wall; and self-pedal mini-tractors; snacks and pumpkins for sale, and the Corn Maze.
We let the girls “take the lead” and got “lost”. Only one of us could see over the corn stalks, and the deeper into the maze we got, the more confusing it seemed. We’d walked past a grove of trees shortly after we entered the maze, and the tops of those trees were visible if we looked up. We had also walking slightly uphill which gave me two directional guides. And even though I knew if worse came to worst, we could push our way through the corn stalks to safety, the thought of pushing through all the stalks, the bugs, the scratches as we made our way back to terra-outside of the maze.
But it didn’t feel quite comfortable to me. I was itchy from the hay barn, there were no-see-ums buzzing my head, and my arms and legs were getting scratched by the corn plants. But onward the daring girls went in circles, and we followed .It was hot out, and before too long they were ready to quit. Rod and I were only too happy to return to non-maze life. He led the way downhill towards the trees, and within minutes we were back to the beginning. Easy-Peezy.
Next time, I might suggest a plan before taking our first steps, maybe take along a bag full of bread crumbs or bright orange pieces of yarn or finding the path along the outer perimeter into the middle.
Except, life isn’t always so easy. It’s hard to know what to think, and what to do, without identifiable landmarks. In the maze, with two grandchildren, I could imagine in my worst-case-scenario mind the four of us huddled somewhere deep in the maze as day turned to night, frantically calling for help with our cell phones. Can you imagine calling 911 to rescue you from a perfectly safe field of oddly plowed corn? The maze seemed representative of all the seemingly unsolvable mazes with no clear paths to follow in our world, and my need for clear directions.
That’s when I need to trust in the Lord with all my heart (and head!), to seek God’s ways in all I do, and know that God will show me which path to take. It’s good advice and wise counsel for this season. ~ Anne
Wayfinding 