How about taking a walk? Time alone, walking a familiar path, may free you for some quiet reflection and for a quiet talk with your loving Lord.
Or how about walking on a pathway specifically designed to encourage reflection on what’s happening in your life; your request to God for direction, insight, counsel, or help; or simple meditation? We at Grace have two such pathways available to us. The most noticeable is the labyrinth or spiritual pathway in our backyard. The other is a portable labyrinth for use indoors which is available from time to time.
The outdoor labyrinth is a gift from St. Luke’s Medical Center, given in response to our allowing a construction crew to tear up our property while laying a sewer line that serves the new patient tower. The labyrinth has been recently revitalized and improved, by the hospital and at their expense. I’ve sent a letter to the new president of St. Luke’s thanking her for the improvement. The grass which served as the pathway, outlined by pavers, has been replaced by crushed granite. Maintenance should be much easier, and the appearance of the labyrinth is vastly enhanced. Please take a look. It looks great!
Please consider doing more than looking. Take a walk. If you haven’t tried it you may be surprised. I know I was, the first time I walked a labyrinth. It happened several years ago. I had read two lengthy articles in the Milwaukee Journal about the rising popularity of labyrinths, and I had a hard time imagining what “walking around in circles” could do for you. And then, while attending the National Wellness Conference in Stevens Point, I had an opportunity to walk on a replica of the famous labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral in France. And everything changed. I discovered that these spiritual pathways can be an aid to meditation and prayer. And, as a memorial to my late wife, Pat, a portable, canvas labyrinth was purchased. Later, the outdoor labyrinth was constructed.
With these investments, we have joined a growing number of places offering a labyrinth for people to walk. Perhaps the most famous is Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The Canon of the cathedral went to Chartres where a labyrinth is part of the floor of the cathedral. It’s believed that it was installed to give would-be pilgrims who couldn’t afford to travel to the Holy Land an opportunity to take a symbolical journey. The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artess returned from her pilgrimage and had a wool tapestry replica created for use at Grace Cathedral. Great demand for use of the tapestry labyrinth led the cathedral to create another labyrinth outdoors. Terrazzo tiles were used in the construction of the more permanent labyrinth, which is available twenty four hours a day, as is ours.
Since that time, labyrinths have sprung up everywhere and are made in a variety of ways. For instance, the inn in Stowe, Vermont, operated by the family made famous in “The Sound of Music,” has a labyrinth outlined by cabbage and other vegetables. Others have used sweet peas. Dr. David Drapes, an expert on labyrinths and a therapist at the Milwaukee Psychiatric Hospital, has one at his cottage in Northern Wisconsin created simply by cutting his grass in such a way that the pathway is shorter than the surrounding grass. Our indoor labyrinth is painted on canvas. I believe that St. Luke’s is planning to install a brick labyrinth as part of its “Healing Garden” which is being created on the 8th floor rooftop faced by the patient tower.
So what will “walking in circles” do for you? I don’t know, and you won’t know until you’ve done it yourself. If you’d like to try it, here are some suggestions. Enter the labyrinth with a prayer, a thought, a problem, a concern, a verse from a hymn, remembering your baptism, or simply with an open mind. Expect that at some point, perhaps when you reach the center of the labyrinth, you will receive “an answer,” an insight, some reassurance, direction, something. And then on the way back to the entrance what has been received will be integrated into your life. Or perhaps not. Some people have told me that “nothing happened.” But many people have reported that something important happened for them. A burden was lifted. Joy was experienced. A childhood conflict was resolved. An assurance that “God could love even someone like me” was given. I’d love it if you would share your experience with me.
Many people use our outdoor labyrinth, just as we have desired. Chaplains from St. Luke’s have brought groups such as recovering cancer patients to walk it. People who have family members in the hospital have made use of it. I’ve seen people walking at night using flashlights to light their way. Please, if you find walking it valuable for yourself, invite others to make use of the labyrinth. It may be a way of saying to them that we care about their welfare and have something unique to offer.
I have conducted a number of workshops for groups outside of our congregation and would be willing to do so with members of Grace. If you’d like some direction and assistance, please ask.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Richter
|
|
