Left entry Classical labyrinth, www.crystal-life.com, used with permission
Today we enter The Labyrinth. Or to put it another way, we begin our congregational life, devotional, and spiritual practice theme called The Labyrinth. The CUUPS and Sylvan Sanctuary groups gathered in the dark on Saturday evening to mark the Fall Equinox and to walk the newly refurbished Labyrinth on the property of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett. In our Sunday gathering at UUCG, we are inviting those present into a story, one of the oldest, related to The Labyrinth: the Minotaur, Ariadne and Thesseus. For those present, it will not be the story they know.*
Chartres Labyrinth, flickr.com, used with permission
That is the way of The Labyrinth. To enter The Labyrinth in any sense, literally, metaphorically, or in personal reflection, we simply do not find what we expect. The Labyrinth is made up of what seem like never-ending folds in the path that take us one direction and then immediately turn us around so that we are looking at where we came from, it would seem, rather than where we think we are going. How often is life like that!
Cretan Labyrinth, Wikimedia Commons, used with permission
For today, let us notice whether it is our approach to life to start the day with an agenda, or to see where the day will take us. Neither is right or wrong. Somewhere along the way, both approaches require decisions. Both approaches invite us into the path for the day, and the path begins to take its turns. If we are the agenda types, then the first moment when the path does not meet our agenda, we have to decide whether to go with the path or stick with our agenda. If we are the “let’s see what the day brings type” we will enter the path and begin to see that the path is taking us a certain way–until it turns in some unexpected way. Then, we have to decide whether to keep following the unexpected, or to press on with what we thought was the path.
Triple Spiral Labyrinth, Wikimedia commons, used with permission
The Labyrinth invites us into mystery. It requires something of us. It reveals to us essential wisdom for our living. The Labyrinthine path begins with the next intentional step we take.
Bob Patrick
*If you were not present at the Sunday Service, you can check out a copy of the service on CD and listen.
