Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

Word and Deed: Thoughts on Faith-Based Leadership

Living the Labyrinth

Shirley Nelson As you know, there are many approaches to prayer and each way is as individual as the person or group engaged in it. If you are interested in expanding your prayer life and deepening your prayerful experience, I invite you to consider walking the labyrinth. The labyrinth is well known in many faith-based communities and it is utilized worldwide for retreats, personal enrichment, group involvement, and daily meditation.

I was introduced to the labyrinth ten years ago by a member of the United Church of Christ. She explained how much it meant to her to walk it every now and then, especially during stressful times when she really needed to unwind. Well, it was a very stressful time in my life. As I began walking regularly, I became well acquainted with its weaving, winding, wondering mystical pattern. It was somewhat of a life saver and, since that time, has been a regular practice that I have come to love.

Living the Labyrinth is a book that offers some wonderful suggestions on how to spend your time at the labyrinth and open up to creative prayer. Author Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion believes that the way we walk the labyrinth both reflects and affects how we see ourselves and our worlds and notes that its twists and turns are similar to life's journeys. She notes that the labyrinth is often confused with a maze as a symbol for difficult entry or exit, for disorientation and complexity, or as a metaphor of the human condition. However, labyrinths have a single path that leads unfailingly to the center; instead of feeling disoriented, it is more likely that you will feel balanced and centered when you are done. Therefore, as Geoffrion writes, it is important to note that experientially there is a big difference between the two:

In a maze we lose ourselves, in a labyrinth we find ourselves. A maze often involves a physical and mental contest between the walker and the maze designer, in the end producing not just losers but victims, failure at the hand of someone else. In a labyrinth there is no competition; we can relax the intellect and be present with the journey itself, establishing our connection with the sacred.

Although the labyrinth is an ancient spiritual tool, its popularity within the United States was greatly enlarged by Lauren Artress, author of Walking a Sacred Path; Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool. Following is one of her reflections as stated in Living the Labyrinth:

The labyrinth is truly a tool for our times. It can help us find our way through the bewildering multiplicity to the unity of source. The labyrinth is an evocative experience. The labyrinth provides the sacred space where the inner and outer worlds can commune, where the thinking mind and imaginative heart can flow together. It can provide a space to listen to our inner voice of wisdom and come to grips with our role in humankind's next evolutionary step. Troubled communities can come to the labyrinth to discover and synchronize their vision. It gives us a glimpse of other realms and other ways of knowing.

I wish you well as your discoveries while walking, skipping, or running the labyrinth lead you to deeper and richer experiences in prayer. For new and innovative uses of the labyrinth, read Living the Labyrinth, published by The Pilgrim Press, and also check out these websites: www.labyrinthsociety.org and www.gracecom.org.

Shirley Nelson

Walking the Labyrinth by Hand

Use your finger or a pen to follow the labyrinth from the entrance in to the center and back out. Notice what you perceive as you experience the labyrinth in this way.

Chartes Labyrinth

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