The Rhythm of Light and Dark on the Labyrinth

Labyrinth at the Chadwick Arboretum on the Ohio State University Campus

I spent the past week in Columbus, Ohio taking a class at the Methodist Theological School of Ohio and was blessed to work with United Methodist Church/Community Development For all People and the Global Community United Methodist Church.  We had Friday off to work on our Saturday presentation.  I took a break and walked this beautiful labyrinth.  It was hot!  And yet there was a gentle breeze.  Silence descended as soon as I walked toward the path.

I really enjoyed the way the stones of the path were laid.  It was a traditional 11-circuit Chartres-style labyrinth but it was a little different, an interesting juxtaposition of square stones in a circular configuration.  There was a small space between the stones down the middle of the path and it helped me to balance my steps.

As I prepared for this class in Ohio, I began to think a lot about spiritual direction on the margins.  What would that look like?   I've been pondering this question and I decided to bring my chaos and all my thoughts to the labyrinth.  

I started my labyrinth walk at the entrance in the shadows of the trees, walking slowly and deliberately, letting my thoughts wander.  Suddenly I walk into the light and its warmth, so bright I almost couldn't see the path.  It "woke" me up, and I continued on in this rhythm of shady darkness and sunlight brightness.  

Everything that happens on the labyrinth is said to be a metaphor for life ... As I settled into the rhythm of the path, I began to think of "knowing" and "unknowing."  There are many things I want to know about the inner shift that I am feeling in my soul and my life but as I moved to the rhythm of light and dark on that very hot day, as I slowed in the shadows and sped through the sunny spots, I began to sense a peacefulness in the quiet darkness of the shadows.  Lingering, I became immersed in God's presence.  

When I reached the center of the labyrinth and perhaps the center of my own soul, I stood very quietly.  I stepped into each petal looking outward and after drinking in the beauty of the world from that perspective I turned, stepped to the center and looked down, breathing in the God-space.  

Around the circle I went until my circle was complete.  I stepped out, back onto the familiar path and simply enjoyed the gentle rhythm of light and dark as I walked out. 

Someone asked me the other day, "What does the labyrinth "do" for you?"  I honestly don't think I gave him a very good answer that day, but I have been thinking about it and here is what I would say today.  The labyrinth doesn't do anything "for" you.  But if you are open, you may experience ... something.  At the very least, you have committed to walk a certain distance and that is something.  Your walk may be awesome.  It may be Spirit-filled.  It may be reflective.  It may be healing.   It may be peaceful.  It may be ordinary.  And ... it may be nothing.  Whatever it is, that is your experience.  

Today, I would say, "if you get the opportunity, just walk and experience what you experience."  Nothing more, nothing less.  What about you?  Have you ever walked a labyrinth?  What was your experience? 

Perhaps the next time (or the first time) you walk a labyrinth you might read this quote from The Cloud of Unknowing ... and find rest for your soul in the rhythm of light and dark.

Let that quiet darkness be your whole mind and like a mirror to you. For I want your thought of self to be as naked and simple as your thought of God, so that you may be with God in spirit without fragmentation and the scattering of your mind.  ~A quote from The Cloud of Unknowing

Dawn ...

Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. 

Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.”
~ Leonora Carrington

Silent Night ...

Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center

The light 

keeps shining
    in the dark,
and darkness 

has never
    put it out.   

John 1:5

Deep within us ...

“Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continually return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us.”

("A Testament of Devotion," Thomas Kelly, Quaker mystic)

the Word of God chose to be silent ...

Breathing Christ

In Mary the Word of God chose to be silent for the season measured by God. She, too, was silent; in her the light of the world shone in darkness. Today, in many souls, Christ asks that he may grow secretly, that he may be the light shining in the darkness. In the seasons of our Advent - waking, working, eating, sleeping, being - each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.

Caryll Houselander
Source: The Reed of God

Seen on the Inward/Outward Blog

If I were ...

If I were an olive, I'd definitely be an acquired taste!  
There is a hardness that has been touched and moved around and pulled out from within me ... for the most part and on more days than not just now ... leaving a gaping hole right through the center of me for the Spirit of Love to pour God's Self into and to change and to move through.  I think maybe I'm seeking the "soft" red pimento of LOVE to fill my inner space ... perhaps that IS what moderates the taste ... 

Come moderate me, Sweet Mother God.  Amen.

And yet ... as I continue to contemplate this olive that is me so interesting, I am noticing that I originally chose a very commercially processed image for myself.  However, as I continue to sit with this image of the olive, I suddenly remember the ancient healing properties of the olive ... pressed into oil that pours upon the body and into the soul.   Gently I feel the intimacy of being so lovingly massaged and molded ... and I notice that I am no longer empty but filled to overflowing ... with love and light.  

"Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives  for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually."  Exodus 27:20

Spirit of Hope, massage me and mold me into a vessel of Light and Healing.  Amen.

Take a moment to journal and create ... 
Let you imagination go and try it!  
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, "if I were ..."
Journal as long as it takes to go where you need to go.
Comment and share your ponderings.

Inner Wisdom

Peace ...how can i find rest for my soul?

Light ...how can I nurture my deepest longing to be close to Presence?

Chaos ...why do I struggle so?

The Light Shines!

The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.  (John 1:5)

Longing for Light, we wait in darkness.

Longing for Truth, we turn to you.

Make us your own, your holy people.

Light for the world to see.

Christ, be our Light!

Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness.

Christ be our Light!

Written by Bernadette Farrell, British Catholic Hymn writer 

Follow this link for a creative YouTube montage of Christ be our Light

A Prayer for Easter Sunday

God of New Beginnings ... In Christ you take all of our sorrow and transform us into people of contentment.  You take our wounds and heal them so that we are whole human beings.  Take away any resentment that we may have against those who have wounded us.  Forgive us for any wounds that we have caused and help us to make amends.  While we do not take joy in the pain of the world, we rejoice in the potential for growth as the Spirit comforts and guides us.  We believe you resurrected Jesus and gave us all new life after all of the pain and suffering he endured because of your love for us.  We believe we can rise with Christ into new life today and every day as we serve you and welcome your reign in this world.  Fill our lives with the light of Christ so that others may know that you live!  Amen. Hallelujah!

Advent Wisdom from Thomas Merton

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:5

We are supposed to be the light of the world.  We are supposed to be a light to ourselves and to others.  That may well be what accounts for the fact that the world is in darkness!  What then is meant by the light of Christ in our lives?  What is meant by "holiness?"

If we are called by God to holiness of life, and if holiness is beyond our natural power to achieve (which it certainly is) then it follows that God must give us the light, the strength, and the courage to fulfill the task.

   Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness

I use this prayer from Companions in Christ as a communal acknowledgment of God's sustaining presence:     
Light of Christ, shine on our path and lead us to the heart of God! 

Light a Candle

I often feel like a slave to my computer! Gratefulness.org is a wonderful website for those of us who like interaction in the midst of our emailing, blogging, and surfing ... I've been praying the hours with the angels for awhile but yesterday I lit a candle and posted a prayer.  If you want to light a candle yourself and post a prayer, I invite you to comment with your candle initial and I will visit to pray with you. After you light a candle or not, I send you on your way with this Celtic blessing ...
 
May the blessing of light be on you - light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm the self at it.
And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.
And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it splash upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, 
     and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star.
And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, 
     soft under you as you lie upon it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.
May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God.
And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.

A Journey to Worship Part 1

I am struggling with many things in my spiritual life right now. I am desperately thirsting for a deeper connection to God. What does one do when what has always worked, doesn't work anymore? What does one do when simply nothing works anymore? Get silent ... Get silent ... Get silent ... What does one do when even the silence refuses to allow a single droplet of living water to wander onto the landscape of the soul? My God, My God! Perhaps one simply takes a leave of absence in order to search for the well within and find the way to worship again.

God works in mysterious ways ...