Tommy took a bow for the rest of the group. “I told him to use his compass app. Same thing he should do this year.” He grinned at Luke. “Like you always say, Dad. Boy Scouts will come in handy at some point.”
Reagan slipped her hand into Luke’s and smiled at him. “We just didn’t know it would be for getting through a corn maze at Hanson’s.”
“Okay, okay.” Luke waved them off. “I get it. I’m directionally challenged.”
His dad and Elaine had gone back to the car to get their picnic basket. When they returned, his dad looked at Luke. “You giving the corn maze another try this year, Son?”
Luke shook his head. “I’ll never live it down.”
A few minutes later the group set their sights on the entrance. Dayne and Katy and their kids arrived in time to join in, and after a few minutes of excited conversation everyone was ready to begin. Luke’s dad and Elaine were the only ones to sit it out.
And like that the day was just as Luke hoped it would be. A reunion of all the adult Baxter kids and their families. Even getting lost amid the corn couldn’t ruin a day like this.
Reagan linked arms with him as they entered the maze. “How about I stay with you? Just in case.” She grinned at him. “You know us girls. At least we ask for directions.”
“True.” Luke leaned in and kissed her. “Let’s win this thing!”
An hour later they were all gathered again at the picnic tables. The boy cousins were back first, just like Tommy and Cole had promised from the beginning. Next were the girl cousins. Amy giggled and said, “All we had to do was follow the boys. They were the loudest group in there!”
And last came the Baxter siblings and their spouses. “We were chatting,” Luke announced as the group arrived at the table area last. “Not lost. Not this year.”
Ashley took pictures of the different teams and texted the photos to everyone in the family. Then they settled in for a picnic lunch. Like they’d done the last several years, everyone brought a dish to share. Luke and Reagan’s chicken salad and fresh-made salsa, Elaine’s homemade bread and pumpkin pies, Ashley’s cold butternut squash soup, and half a dozen other dishes.
Only a few clouds dotted the Bloomington sky overhead, and the breeze was mild. The crowd at Hanson’s was light that day. The afternoon couldn’t have been more perfect. Before they ate, they formed a circle and held hands, the way the Baxter family always did when they came together. Their dad led the prayer.
“Lord, You are good. Thank You for fall, for the season of harvest. Thank You for bearing Your fruits and vegetables for Your people and for providing in so many other ways.” Luke’s dad paused as a gentle breeze drifted over the group. “We are grateful for Your love and mercy and for our redemption in Jesus Christ. And we are thankful for each other on this beautiful autumn day. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Moments like this, Luke wondered how heaven could be better. And today, as they began to eat, he wondered something else. Whether anyone other than him understood how privileged they were to hold hands and pray in Jesus’ name here in public.
Later, after the meal was finished and the entire group had taken a hayride to the back part of the farm to pick out pumpkins, the kids took another run through the corn maze. The adults were gathered around a few of the picnic tables when Luke’s dad brought up the subject.
“You’ve been busy, Son. Religious freedom cases are popping up all over the place.”
“They are.” Luke’s heart sank a little. He, better than any of them, knew the rate at which religious liberties were vanishing across the country. “It isn’t just the lawsuits, it’s the way people are thinking.”
Ryan had his arm around Kari. He sat up a little straighter. “Some of the kids at Clear Creek High wanted to start a Bible club. We’re talking just kids, now. Not a single teacher or administrator.” He looked around the group and settled on Luke. “The principal told them they couldn’t meet on school grounds. That it was a violation of church and state.”
Frustration stirred in Luke’s gut. “Not true. Absolutely not.” He kept his tone in check. His passion for the subject knew no bounds. “Those kids have the right to freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. No one can make a law that prohibits their exercise of faith or their right to assemble.”
“That’s what I told them.” Ryan shrugged. “I think it’s a matter of perception. Today, most people think it’s illegal to talk about God in public.”
Ryan was right. Luke used to handle the isolated cases, where a group of football players were sued for praying before a game or an office worker was fired for keeping her Bible on her desk. Now these things were commonplace. So much so that lawyers like Luke couldn’t keep up.
In addition to the lawsuits, people didn’t need to be forced into silence. They were silencing themselves out of fear and a lack of knowledge of their rights.
“Sometimes I think it’s going to take a big case”—Luke leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees—“something that really captures the heart of the nation. I’m afraid only then will people grasp the freedoms they’re so quick to let die.”
Ashley talked about being at the coffee shop in downtown Bloomington with a friend last week. “She was telling me about her family, and the message at church on Sunday.”
“Wait till you hear this.” Landon linked hands with Ashley and waited for her to finish.
“I know. I couldn’t believe it.” Ashley was clearly troubled by the situation. “So there we were in the coffee shop, sipping our lattes, and my friend is telling me about the sermon.”
“Just a normal conversation,” Landon added.
Ashley nodded. “So all the sudden my friend looks over one shoulder and then the other. Like someone might be listening. Seriously. Then she leans real close and whispers God’s name. ‘God is really speaking to me,’ she tells me.” Ashley shook her head. “I asked her why she was whispering and she told me. Because she was worried about saying God’s name. Like it would be against the law to say the name God in a coffee shop.”
The sick feeling in Luke’s gut grew. “Two problems with that. First, your friend doesn’t know her rights. And second, it seems she’s okay with her perceived loss of rights, the idea that she might have to whisper God’s name in public.”
“What case are you working on?” His dad put his arm around Elaine. “I haven’t seen you much. What’s the state of things out there?”
“It’s wild.” Luke took a slow breath and thought about his recent docket. “So many lawsuits. I’m definitely enjoying it more than entertainment law.”
“What you’re doing now matters at a completely different level.” His dad shook his head. “It’s a crazy world out there.”
Luke appreciated his dad’s support. It mattered, knowing that his family believed in what he was doing. It always would.
The kids came running back, all the cousins together, including the little ones. Cole led the charge. “Can we take one more turn in the corn maze? We’re trying to break our record.” He grinned at Blaise, who at three was the youngest in the group. “It’s not easy with the little ones, but we’re all helping each other.”
A chorus of pleading from the older cousins, and Luke and the others easily agreed. Another run through the maze was a great idea. The conversation among the adults was just getting started. The kids ran off, and the others leaned in.
“Who exactly is doing the suing?” The question came from Peter, Brooke’s husband. Both of them were doctors. “We’re pretty removed from all that in our world.”
“Not me. Not on the coaching field.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “A coach in our district is fighting for his job because he allows the players to pray. Our country is changing and we never got a vote in the matter.”