Walking the Labyrinth

Wednesday February 22, 2006
I walked my first labyrinth today. It won’t be the last. I am at Minister’s Convocation at Lake Junaluska and they have a turf labyrinth outside the chapel.

I have heard of labyrinths and, while at the lake, I purchased a book on labyrinths. I also did some online study.

You enter the labyrinth on a set of stepping stones. I paused and entered into an experience that was unknown to me. I began by saying the Jesus Prayer as I walked. I had to keep my eyes on the path. They first few turns came quickly, but then I entered into the first of several long arcs. My mind was trying to equate this journey of a few steps with a spiritual journey of a lifetime.

I quickly realized that a labyrinth is much longer than it seems. What is only a few feet in diameter unravels into yards of waking the path. With each step, though, I knew the center was drawing closer. After about 4-5 minutes, I arrived.

The center was in the shape of a three leaf clover. I stood on the stem of the clover and looked at the three leavers. Immediately, my mind said—TRINITY—and I equated one leaf with God, one with Jesus, and one with the Holy Spirit.

What I won’t forget is what I saw in the Jesus leaf—I saw a picture of Christ’s agonized face on the cross—there in the grass. I looked harder and I could still see it. I gazed at it for a while.—thankful for his agony on my behalf. I then looked at each of the other leaves and thought of the attributes I associated with each one: God—Father, creator, law giver: Jesus—savior, companion, friend: Holy Spirit—sustainer, truth giver.

After about a minute, I decided it was time to move from this sacred space and go back to the secular world that was just steps away. As I journeyed outward—my spirit was lifted. I found myself smiling—almost laughing—with each successive step.

I came to the end of the labyrinth. I paused. I made the sign of the cross and I stepped across the stones and back into the world.

My first journey was over and the desire for another was kindled.

Different Kinds of Vacations

i was reading an article this morning written by a pastor giving advice to pastors about time management. In the article he talked about taking time off. For him, a few days here and there was what he needed for his own renewal, but he also realized that his family needed a longer time away, so he viewed vacations as being for them--not him.

I have struggled with the idea of family vacations. With four boys, a family vacation often leaves me tired and hoping for a quick end to the trip. Most of our family vacations involve water. We either go to the beach or to a place with plenty of swimming pools. We usually try to get in at least two visits to the water feature each day. By the time I've helped to wrangle and watch four kids at the waterside, I am tired and ready to call it a day. For me this is not a vacation. For the boys, though, it is just short of heaven.

I suppose the article got me to thinking. What I really want is a little time by myself and some time with my wife everyo now and then. I think that I will begin looking at my vacation time differently in the years ahead. There will be that large block of time for family vacation, but I now think there must also be those smaller times for me personally to refresh myself and another time for Debbie and I to renew our relationship.

I wonder what your philosophy about vacations is? Share some thoughts on the issue. Make a reply to this blog.

The Sounds of Silence

The other night at our Ancient Prayer Practices study, we were studying the role of solitude and silence in our prayer life. As a group, we set aside five minutes to go and be silent. I went into the sanctuary. I immediately noticed that it was going to be hard to have silence. We have a heating system that circulates hot water through pipes in our floor. In the "silence" of the sanctuary, you could hear the gurgling of the water in the pipes. To me it reminded me of the sound that your stomach makes when you get hungry. At that point, I knew that God was speaking to me in the silence.

My mind began to fill with images of hunger and promises of God's fulfillment of that hunger. I knew that God was giving me a mini-course in letting him satisfy the hungers of my soul. It also was a neat way for me to share with the class when we got back together.

Anothe person heard the same gurgling sound and was reminded of the fact that when she goes on a retreat, she likes to find a place near a stream so that she can sit and listen to the water and let God refresh her.

That night, God used the sounds that intruded upon our silence to teach all of us some very important lessons.