{"id":1696,"date":"2022-06-03T08:12:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T12:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1696"},"modified":"2022-06-03T08:12:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T12:12:35","slug":"lost-and-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/03\/lost-and-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost and Found"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, I experienced the adventure of walking through an authentic European garden maze.\u00a0
\u00a0
The first time I saw an aerial photo of one of those labyrinthine backyard hedges \u2013 the playgrounds of the rich and bored during the Enlightenment \u2013 I yearned to encounter one first-hand.\u00a0 Opportunity knocked when I visited Hampton Court Palace, one of the historic country residences of the English monarchy just outside London.
\u00a0
Back in 1702 an enterprising gardener planted an interconnecting series of hedges (pictured above).\u00a0 He then allowed them to grow up to their current height of seven feet.\u00a0
\u00a0
I was surprised to discover that the entrance and the exit to the maze were one and the same. \u201cThat\u2019s too easy,\u201d I thought.\u00a0 \u201cAll I have to do is go backwards and I come right out again.\u201d\u00a0 Disappointed by that discovery, I decided to concentrate on taking pictures of other people in the maze.\u00a0
\u00a0
Many were obviously having fun.\u00a0 Others didn\u2019t seem to be having much fun at all.\u00a0
\u00a0
Some people looked desperate.\u00a0 \u201cOh, come on,\u201d I chuckled to myself.\u00a0 After 10 minutes I decided to make my way back to the entrance \/ exit.\u00a0 I knew just where to go.
\u00a0
Or maybe not.<\/em>
\u00a0
It was intriguing at first:\u00a0 My sense of direction was obviously skewed.\u00a0 I made seven or eight attempts to get on the right path, only to discover that I was heading deeper <\/em>into the maze.\u00a0 Suddenly, for the first time, I stumbled into the center.\u00a0 How did that happen?\u00a0 I looked at my watch.\u00a0 My ride would be coming soon.
\u00a0
I wasn\u2019t in trouble here, was I?
\u00a0
I picked up the pace\u2026and thus saw new and unfamiliar parts of the maze more quickly.\u00a0 I kept bumping into some of the people I had photographed.\u00a0 Some appeared to have gone without food for three or four days.\u00a0 How do you get out of this thing?\u00a0<\/em>
\u00a0
Twice I passed an ominous junction with a sign that said, \u201cIf you need assistance getting out, wait here for help.\u201d\u00a0 No way.\u00a0 <\/em>I would rather claw my way through the hedges than admit defeat.
\u00a0
All of a sudden I turned a corner and saw the exit.\u00a0 My family would see me again.\u00a0 Jeremiah 29:11 took on a whole new meaning:\u00a0 \u201cI know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you hope and a future.\u201d
\u00a0
When I returned to my host\u2019s home in London I told my story of getting lost in the maze \u2013 very dramatically, of course.\u00a0 The grown-ups smiled.\u00a0 One of their young daughters said, rather matter-of-factly, \u201cOh, I know how to go through that maze.\u00a0 Keep turning right on the way in, and keep turning left on the way out.\u00a0 It works every time.\u201d
\u00a0
I should have asked a child.<\/em>
\u00a0
That\u2019s what Jesus advised, of course.\u00a0 Someone with childlike trust often finds it easier to go forward in the world than a driven, self-confident adult.\u00a0
\u00a0
What\u2019s the starting point for walking with God?\u00a0 We must be willing to un-learn our ancient reflexes of self-reliance.\u00a0
\u00a0
Otherwise we may spend more time than we can imagine lost between the hedges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, I experienced the adventure of walking through an authentic European garden maze.\u00a0\u00a0The first time I saw an aerial photo of one of those labyrinthine backyard hedges \u2013 the playgrounds of the rich and bored during the Enlightenment \u2013 I yearned to encounter one first-hand.\u00a0 Opportunity knocked when I visited Hampton Court Palace, one of the historic… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-1696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-guidance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1698,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696\/revisions\/1698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}