Fall. The season of pumpkin spice and apple cider. Leaves flutter through gusts of wind in cascades of color. No matter the temperature, we swap our flip flops and swimsuits for boots and sweaters. Pumpkins abound, as do hay and dried cornstalks, cranberries, and cinnamon.

Perhaps my least favorite thing about fall is the creepy part of Halloween, so I’m glad it’s passed. I’ve always been a fan of costumes and trick or treat. But leave me out of the macabre and twisted imaginations that create slasher movies or decorations that dabble in the occult or unseen. They ruin so many simple pleasures.

For instance, last night I asked a new friend if she’d ever done a corn maze. I have never attempted one. She said she had, but something about cornfields creeps her out. Guess why? She has seen the alien movie Signs. I rest my case.

But my friend said something else about corn mazes that resonated with me. We were discussing a particular one at a pumpkin patch near us. She said she had done it last weekend but it wasn’t a ton of fun. So many had been through, all you had to do was follow their trail. The path was defined because the hay was trampled and worn, clearly showing the way.

The point is supposed to be you find your way, then lose it, then repeat until, finally, you arrive at the end! But some would consider it a stroke of luck to find one where many have gone before. They need the clues of a well-worn path or they’ll get stuck somewhere forever. Or maybe they’ll just keep doubling back, making the same mistake over and over. Even the most arduous maze becomes simple when the path is clear.

That might defeat the purpose of a corn maze challenge, but it made me wonder about others coming behind me in this maze of life. How many times do my footprints lead them in the wrong direction versus how often their way is simplified because I’m leaving a clear path?

The objective of a corn maze is to find yourself free on the other end. The objective in the maze of life is to find yourself free in your identity as a child of our loving Father. If my journey can ease the way for someone behind me, how great it can sweeten the pain!

That’s what’s on my mind today…

Be Kind. Love Well.

~ Tonda