Did you know that you cannot get lost in a labyrinth? You can get lost in a maze.
The labyrinth has many twists and turns, but only one path available between the lines. You will eventually reach the center or the exit, depending on which way you are traveling.
A maze has many twists and turns, but it also has many dead ends. You can retrace your steps and try to make different choices, but there is no guarantee that you will find the way out. Usually there is only one way to successfully navigate a maze.
As you journey through life, do you see yourself walking a labyrinth or trying to navigate a maze? If you think of your life as a labyrinth you are pretty much a determinist, every “choice” you make is predetermined. You just have to put one step in front of another.
If your life is a maze to you, then you must make choices. There will be dead ends. You believe there is only one right choice to make at each crossroad in life. Your life will be judged by whether or not you have made it through the maze.
Neither image quite explains the different outcomes in lives that seem to have the same potentials and resources. Life isn’t so easily explained.
Our sacred texts blend these images. We have free will. We are called to choose whom we will serve. It seems like life is like the maze. When we come to a dead end, we cannot retrace our steps. We must live with the consequences of our choices.
However, God opens new doors when we arrive at dead ends. There is a way forward. A life of faith in such a God will be able to see the steps to take. Our lives become labyrinths. We know we will make it through to the center where God lives.
Dead ends are real. There is no set path. Repent (rethink) and trust that following the way of Jesus will lead you through successfully.
Pastor Phil