"There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza..."

I am always amazed when I face a seemingly huge problem, searching hard for the solution, and then the answer suddenly just occurs to me and, almost like magic, problem solved!  Such was the case with the “mystery of the flooding bathroom,” which plagued my home for several months. 

Unexplainably, the bathtub started leaking every time someone took a shower, and not just a little, A LOT!  The liner was in the correct place, and everything else seemed in order, but suddenly the water jetted in such a way that it leaked around the shower curtain and flooded the tile floor.  After wringing my hands and many water-filled towels, and almost calling in a professional for advice, it FINALLY occurred to me that a can of shaving gel now occupied the shower caddy just below the showerhead.  Removing the can and everything else that the water might reflect off immediately solved the problem…definitely one of those “duh” moments! 

The same is often true in life.  We sometimes have a huge problem that we repeatedly struggle with and the immediate way out lies right in front of us.  Sometimes we wrestle with procrastination, with the simple solution being JUST DO IT!  Alternatively, there are times we search endlessly in our minds for the correct answer in a dilemma, when talking it over and giving it to God would quickly give us the most beneficial results. 

This life holds enough truly difficult circumstances, so try simplifying and looking right under your nose or straight up to God for the answers. Take the solution staring you in the face before you replace the whole tub! 

Roberta Pledge

October 31, 2012

Musings from the Prayer Labyrinth...

Walking a prayer labyrinth is a lesson in reaching a center like no other. The labyrinth, upon first impression appearing to be a maze, is actually an intricate pathway.  While the bends and turns seem to lead nowhere, when followed, they will always lead to the very center.  There are points in the path where the center seems far away, but at those very points the center of the labyrinth can actually be the closest to you.  In these and other ways, the process of walking a labyrinth can be mindful of one’s personal relationship with God.

Life is often reminiscent of a maze.  The harder we try to get through, the more burdened and confused we become; we find we are constantly running into roadblocks. It is only when we comprehend that life is not a maze, but a complex pathway, that we begin to understand.  We can only start acknowledging our powerlessness when we realize that the roadblocks are often stepping stones meant to bend our will in the right direction.  Just as the labyrinth’s pathway always leads to the center, if we stay on the pathway with God it will always lead us to our perfect center with Him.

With twists and turns along the way, praying in a labyrinth is very different from praying in a seated or knelling position.   While walking the path your eyes must be open to avoid tripping; life is also very much like that.  We have to walk through it with our eyes wide open.  This means that no matter how hard we are walking towards God, there will always be distractions on our path that take our eyes off Him.  In a labyrinth it may be a stick, a bug, a weed, but in life the distractions are larger and more threatening…a sin, an addiction, a disappointment, the list is endless.  We must keep our eyes focused on our path rather than the distractions.  Distractions lead to desire, desire leads to addiction, addiction leads to sin, and sin ultimately leads to death.

Much like life, the path in a labyrinth, not a straight one, can be deceiving. Thinking you are the farthest away from the center, you find with a single turn that you are actually arriving there.  Similarly, the valleys of life that pull at our hearts and make God seem very distant are also often the very things that often turn our hearts towards Him.  Since God never moves, the illusion that He is far away is always a lie from Satan meant to deceive our hearts. 

The similarities of a prayer labyrinth and life are many, but the strongest one is that if we are focused on God, our earthly path will always lead us to Him.  Just as the intricate path of the labyrinth will always lead to its’ center, the confusion of a day, the obstacles along our path, and the distance of our hearts from Him can be overcome if we keep putting one foot in front of the others and walking towards Him.  While holding God’s Hand we can conquer whatever Satan throws our way and reach our ultimate center, Heaven.

Roberta Pledge

9/25/12