Most of us have been to a state fair or an amusement park that had a mirror maze. Intrigued by the challenge to find our way through the maze quickly, we gave the person in the ticket booth the number of tickets needed to enter the maze. We entered the maze thinking that we could get through it in record time. We thought, “How hard could it be?” However, we soon found the challenge was more difficult and harder than we ever imagined.
Adrain Fisher published an article in 2005 entitled, “The Renaissance of Mirror Mazes.” In his article he discusses the history of mirror mazes, but he also explains why it is so difficult to navigate your way through such mazes. He says, “The difficulty in finding your way through a mirror maze is not just in the complicated layout, dead-ends and wrong turns, but in the illusions and deceptions of the mirrors. The eye is tricked and the brain deceived – nothing here is what it seems! Children often wander through a Mirror Maze savoring the illusions, sound and lighting effects in a dreamlike trance. All sense of time is lost.”
When I read Mr. Fisher’s article, especially the part about the difficulties of a mirror maze, I began thinking about the mirror maze of life that the children of God choose to enter. They enter filled with excitement, enticed by those well-known enemies: Satan, self, and the secular world. I would suggest not to enter the maze. Fight the temptation! For the mirror maze that I am describing is filled with difficulties. You see, like the mirror maze in the world of amusement, the mirror maze of life is also complex and complicated. Found on the broad path that leads to destruction, the mirror maze of life is also filled with dead ends and wrong turns, all causing frustration, failings, and fruitlessness. The similarity does not stop with what I have described so far. For you see, the mirror maze of life is filled with a multiplicity of illusions and deceptions that try to master one’s mind. The person who enters the mirror maze of life suddenly becomes seemingly stuck for a period of time. My advice! If that happens to you, never give up trying to get out of what you voluntarily got into. Stay alert, astute, aware at all times of the trickery that tries to trap you right where you are, convincing yourself that you can get out.
My recommendation to everyone who reads this meditation, including you and those you share this with out of love, is to stay out of the mirror maze of life. Instead, look at what I think is the only perfect mirror, the word of God. With this mirror; the Bible, the inspired word of God, you can make sure you are clothed in righteousness. With this mirror, you can faithfully make the right turns, sidestep avoidable complications in life, steer clear of dead ends, find the way that pleases God. The mirror referred to here, is the word of God. If you look into it, it will make things clear! It will help you stay committed to the climb! It will circumvent all the unnamed and innumerable difficulties that come with the mirror maze of life. Finally, my friend, take something of value away from the closing verses. Be blessed!
“By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back from living by Your righteous order.” (Psalm 119:105-106 The Message Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King