So, What is this Thing called labyrinth?

We have been talking a lot about walking a labyrinth. What exactly is a labyrinth? Why are we learning about labyrinths? Labyrinth is a walking meditation, a path of prayer and a meeting of psyche and spirit. Unlike a maze, there are no tricks and no dead ends. The labyrinth has only one path that leads from the outer edge in a circuitous way to the center and returns to the starting point. Walking the labyrinth quiets the mind, opens the heart, and grounds the body. Labyrinths are currently being used world-wide as a way to recover a balance in life, and to encourage meditation, insight, self-reflection, and stress-reduction. While there are many patterns of labyrinth dating from ancient times, the design embraced by Pastor Christy during her time of sabbatical is the 800 year-old Eleven-circuit Medieval Labyrinth from Chartres Cathedral in France. Christy participated in Labyrinth Facilitator Training at Chartres from June 27-July 4 of this year. An element of the sabbatical period was for our congregation to learn about labyrinths and participate in a labyrinth walk.  

On Sunday, August 14, a special service of worship will include an introduction to the labyrinth as a tool for meditation and renewal, and an opportunity to experience the labyrinth first-hand. For our congregants who worship via Zoom there will be a finger-tracing labyrinth option. Brighid FitzGibbon is a trained facilitator in walking the Chartres model labyrinth. She is affiliated with Veriditas Center in Petaluma. Brighid will join us in worship to present a program about labyrinth and guide us with a walk using a portable labyrinth set up in the Fellowship Hall. Experiencing the path of labyrinth will enhance our understanding of Christy's sabbatical experience and provide us a useful tool for meditation and renewal. Please join our worship service and plan to stay to walk the labyrinth, if you are able. For more information you can visit www.veriditas.org/resources. There you can find information about the history of labyrinths, online Finger Labyrinth Walks, and can purchase or download a copy of the finger labyrinth (for a direct link to the finger labyrinth, click here.