October, 2024

CORN MAZE DAZE

October is a month filled with activities centered around the Fall season. There are pumpkin patches to visit and day trips to the mountains with their Fall foliage to take. There are outdoor bonfires, hot cider drinks, pumpkin-carving contests, and seasonal foods to make. The weather usually cooperates with our outdoor excursions; not too hot, not too cold. Which is a good thing when it comes to an activity you can really lose yourself in: the cornfield maze.

Shortly after my arrival to Olive Branch, I went with Don Morse and several of our youth to a giant corn maze in Charles City County. We were given a simple map with various places to find. As we went deeper into the maze, we lost our orientation. The paths cut through the dry cornstalks started to all look the same. At that point, I felt what it was like to be lost deep in a giant corn maze with no easy way out.

The poet David Barber wrote a poem about being lost in a corn maze. Here are a few lines:

Barber is writing about more than a journey through a corn maze. He is relating being lost in a corn maze to being lost in life and being unable to find “true happiness, a sense of belonging, and where you belong… Don’t ever get lost in life because it can be difficult finding your way back”.

Fall can also be a time of return to the community of faith, where you can no longer feel adrift in a world that increasingly makes little sense. Life may feel at times like a confusing maze, but here at Olive Branch you will find brothers and sisters to walk beside as together we create a place where everyone is welcomed – and no one is lost.

Blessings ~ Pastor Richard
October, 2024