Walking the Labyrinth

I went out yesterday to try and walk across a new rail trail that goes across the Hudson river a few miles south of the monastery. Unfortunately yesterday was the grand opening ceremony and they wouldn't let the public on the bridge until too late (I didn't want to have to rush back for Vespers again).

Upon returning, I noticed the labyrinth that the monastery has near the visitor lot. I've always wanted to try that, so this seemed an opportune time. A labyrinth is a path that's folded up on itself in a circle. It's not a maze as there is only one path to the center, though it twists and turns in unexpected directions. There are different ways to approach walking the labyrinth. The one I choose was to carry a "burden" (a small rock) and pray a prayer of supplication at each turn as I walked towards the center. Once there, I left my "burden" for God, and returned praying a prayer of thanksgiving at each turn on the way out.

It was a different experience. The walking and praying allowed you to focus on your problem you were bringing to God, and the prayers of thanksgiving on the way out forced me to give thanks for longer than I usually do.

Part of our J2A/Way of Pilgrimage curriculum this year is aimed at trying different spiritual practices to see which ones "fit"... and this one doesn't fit for me. It was nice, and I can see how people might like it, but it just didn't seem worth the effort of seeking out a labyrinth. But that's part of the neat thing about our journey this year. We have a great chance to try these things together, knowing that some we will like and others we won't.