Walking the Labyrinth – watering hole for the Spirit
“THERE ARE no days in life so memorable.” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination.” For me, that day was August 5th, 1991 when our band of six congregants from Grace Cathedral entered Chartres Cathedral in France. We removed the chairs from the long forgotten labyrinth. Unable to secure permission from the cathedral officials, we nervously cleared the then 276 chairs from the labyrinth, held hands in a moment of prayer and entered the singular circuitous path to the center and back out again. About twenty-five curious tourists joined us in this pilgrim’s experience in conspiratorial silence.
Because of timing and a short-sta ed cathedral we had an hour or so to walk deeper and deeper into this gracious yet complex spiral path contained within a bounded circle. With each step my mind quieted, my body synchronized with my breath, I was able to walk into the stillness of the center where one can hear the heartbeat of God. After our walk there was a joyous, golden, celebratory feeling as if someone had thrown stardust into the air. Surely we were touched by beauty; embraced by mystery.
On those rare days when something vibrates in our imagination, gratitude is the only response. I am grateful for this experience that radically changed my life. Something was let loose that day, not only within me to dig deep into the history, mystery and meaning of the labyrinth and shape the experience for our current spiritual needs, but somehow, it freed the Spirit of the Living God.
* Full article available in printed copies.
Lauren Artress
is a priest of The Episcopal Church, a canon of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, a spiritual guide and author of three books on walking the labyrinth, which she encourages through the non-profit Veriditas.