The Maze

I am sure glad apps were not around when I was young. I had enough issues just keeping my nose out of a book!  I just love to play games. Sudoku, Crosswords, Hearts, Spades, Jeopardy, I could go on and on!!


But one I am presently fascinated with is a maze. I just started playing this app, so for now it is pretty simple. I hold my tablet more or less flat and tilt the sides up and down so that this little silver ball moves around corners and down alleys.

 Now it is not a maze in the truest sense, because I am looking down and I can trace the ball to the end before I even start. To experience a true labyrinthian maze, you would need to be following one incorporated in a landscape. You can find a few here, but there are quite a number of intricate ones in Europe, particularly in England and France. Hedges are maintained at a height higher than the average person. Twists and turns take you from what seems dead-end to dead-end. People have actually gotten lost in them and have had to wait for folks to find them. Seems funny, but I bet it could be a bit fearful for the person who was lost.


Life is a lot like a maze. We have all been at those points where we don’t know which way to turn. Many times one direction or opportunity seems the same as the other. We pray, asking for God to give us a sign, some answer, but often it seems He is silent. We start off on one path to find ourselves at a dead end. Or go through one of those episodes in life where we know we are traveling the wrong path, and we just don't care.


I belong to a small group of maze buddies. It just happens to be my Sunday School class at church. I have had the privilege of being in that group for the past 20 years. Some of the faces have changed over time, but we are all on this maze called life and I guess their mere presence there tells me that we all want to choose the right path. It's funny, but looking back I don’t know what I would have done without them. 


Times when I was just so tired of the twists and turns, they were there to encourage me. When I would get to a dead end for what seemed the "umpteenth" time,  I would feel like just sitting down and crying.  Sometimes, I literally did.  There they would be, putting an arm around me.  Many times crying along with me. Times when I was heading down a particularly thorny path, I would find them walking beside me.  Letting me know they had been down a tough road themselves and if they could make it,  so could I. Their sight extended no further down the journey than mine,  but they were there to share their stories, their tears, and their laughter with me. I could not imagine this trip of life without them.


And that has made all the difference.  In my maze, or I guess you can say…my life