REFLECTIONS

Labyrinth

Because of the degree of difficulty, it may be the least favorite game I ever played. It was certainly the most vexing. The objective of the game was to maneuver a steel marble through a maze of narrow channels without allowing the marble to fall through a hole that loomed at the end of each path. I remember gently tilting the board to and fro, and side to side, trying to coax the marble safely along. But I don’t remember ever successfully navigating the marble through the labyrinth for which the game took its name. I had neither the patience nor the skill for it.

Now, many years after that exasperating game vanished from my possession, I think back on it with a sense of total failure. And unlike many other games I played in my childhood, I have no desire for its resurrection in my life. But time has taught me that this one has.

Life itself is a labyrinth. Each day we must make our way through a maze of new and challenging segments that force us to tilt “the board” to and fro, and side to side trying to maneuver ourselves safely toward the finish line without falling into the numerous holes looming along our chosen pathway. In the game, I never made it.  In life, the challenge continues.

The main difference between the game with the steel marble and the daily travel through life is that in the game the player started over from the beginning each time the marble fell into a hole. In life, we must try to pull ourselves out of the hole and carry on from the place we have fallen. But there is another more important difference.

In the game the sole burden rested on one’s own ability. Once the steel ball fell through one of the awaiting holes, you were finished. But in life we can connect to a Savior even after we fall. When we look to him, He will always be there to pull us up and guide us through. And there’s not much else we need to do. Take up his yoke for He is gentle and humble in heart. In him, there is rest for your soul. And best of all…

His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

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