Yesterday, while at an ecumenical day of reflection for spiritual directors, I had the opportunity to walk a labyrinth at Mercy Center in St. Louis. I’ve heard and read about labyrinths, but this was my first time experiencing one. Unlike an English garden maze, which I have experienced (and it was frustrating and a little scary…) a labyrinth offers only one path and it’s not out to trick you or get you lost. There are no high hedges to hem you in, only parallel rows of white rocks and a mulched walkway. There’s only one way in and one way out. So setting my own pace and simply following the path, I was moved — however rambling — toward the labyrinth’s peaceful center under a tree.
There’s nothing inherently mystical or sacred about a labyrinth, for it’s the intention and attention of the walker that makes the path holy. But I found it to be a gentle, guiding tool for meditation on the movement of God in my life, a meaningful melding of the spiritual and the physical.
It is, of course, an apt metaphor for our spiritual journey, for only by continuing to walk and trusting the path we are on and its Creator can we reach the center where God waits for us, patient as a friend and lover. And like the labyrinth, God is not out to trick us or set traps for us, for when following the way of Christ (“I am the way, the truth and the life…”) we do not need to worry about which way to turn, as long as we keep to the path. The call of the labyrinth, like the call of God, is to quiet our minds, to trust our steps and to move ever forward to the center, the unmoving mover of all.
Ask yourself in silence: Do I trust the path I am walking? If not, am I on the wrong path?
I live this labyrinth..first walked it on a retreat my church had at Mercy Center some 7 years ago…and then my quilt guild started having our January quilting retreat at Mercy and whenever we are there ai try to walk it again unless it is snowing. The first time I walked a labyrinth it seemed a little awkward, specially with a group when you hav to dodge the person coming back the other way. But each time it seems more natural and it grows on me. One time at Mercy I was alone and I sat in the center for a while, praying, with tears coming down my cheeks. There is a wonderful little plaque attached to the tree in the center with a poem about trust. I took a photo of it and put it on my computer as a reminder of one of many spiritual characteristics I need to work on.
Thank you for posting this, Steve. I have loved labyrinths for many years. I walked the one in Chartres a few years ago. It was distracting because there were so many tourists, but still a wonderful experience. There is a labyrinth in a public park in my neighborhood in Oslo. I walk it periodically. It isn’t nearly so peaceful as the labyrinth at the Mercy center, but it can still be a spiritual experience. There is a drinking fountain in the middle!
Thank you, Steve…I find labyrinths interesting…you described it beautifully… I have never walked one…but I just read a book about the one in Chartres…peace and good
Thanks, Pat. I’m intrigued by them, too, as long as we keep our eyes fixed upon God at the center…
Thanks, Conni. It’s good to connect with you via Judi. Any friend of JL’s is a friend of mine…
It is beautiful Judi, and I wonder why I never found it before now…
Thank you for this, Steve. I did a little research and found a labyrinth at a church near the entrance to our subdivision. A short walk away! I’ve never experienced a labyrinth and look forward to my first visit. God Bless.
How wonderful for you and Steven to have one so close. All the best.