Labyrinths invite us into themselves but only so that they can invite us down deep into our own souls. They require something of us once there: to touch, to connect, to be present, to be aware. (You could add to the list of requirements from your own experiences with labyrinths.) In this process of walking and working with labyrinths, they ultimately reveal things to us.
The revelation may be simply (and powerfully) about our present state of mind and body: gee, I’m really jittery; I’m anxious; I’m so distracted by (fill in the blank with an earlier event in the day). Why do I feel like I have to hurry up and finish this labyrinth walk?
Labyrinth at the Scarritt-Bennett Center, Nashville, TN image used under creative commons license
The revelation may be about a life pattern. The requirement of the labyrinth, that we simply, mindfully, take the next step can alter our state of mind. Within this altered, meditative state, we begin to see with a bigger vision and from that perspective, we can see the patterns of our behaviors, our relationships, or perhaps even our feeling states.
We may enter a labyrinth walk with no particular question or issue. The walk itself may seem ordinary and not particularly special. Somewhere along the way, or at the center, or even some time after we have left, we may receive a sudden revelation that adds a moment of unexpected grace to the present moment.
Labyrinths invite, require, and reveal. This is my own experience of walking many labyrinths in many places over many years. Those walks have taught me that the labyrinthine journey of my life itself is always doing the same thing: inviting me into my own soul’s depths, requiring me to do my work, and revealing my life’s truth.
Today may offer us the opportunity to walk a labyrinth. More likely: what in life today invites us to go deeply into our souls? What personal work must we do there? What revelations await us as we make this journey?
Bob Patrick
