Our labyrinth walk
On March 9, 2005 the Lutheran and Episcopal Campus Ministry brought a portable labyrinth to UMBC for the use of the entire university community. (Read the article that ran in UMBC's student newspaper, Retriever Weekly.) It was set up in the third floor ballroom of the University Center, and during the day forty-one people engaged in the ancient spiritual practice of "walking the labyrinth." (We brought the labyrinth back to UMBC for repeat events in April 2006 and 2008.)
In 2005, twenty-eight of the forty-one participants chose to write anonymous reflections on their experience in a blank book provided. There was real diversity in what they wrote, but virtually everyone seemed to find it meaningful. Below is a sample of the responses:
"Today was a pretty tough day. Walking through the labyrinth helped me to be patient."
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"A calming experience, to say the least....[My] varying distances from the center reminded me of how throughout life I am close to God and at times how I am far from him." "Into the comfort of a path unknown but laid out. Guide ahead and around me." |  |
"For me it was a well-needed break in the day. It must be special--I felt like crying."
"When I reached the center, my mind and body had calmed, and I was able to pray peacefully."
"A few times I was walking next to someone, and then she turned--like so many people who join us in our walk for a time and then must follow their own paths."
"The labyrinth has a very deep meaning. It walks you through the entire life you are living--the past that you have been, the present, and prepares you for the future."
"The warm welcoming light of the entrance to the center. Peace, beauty, magnificence of music. Inner-dependence, inter-dependence. Unity--human, natural, spiritual."
"Simply take one step at a time, knowing that the path will lead you to the truth and to a sense of purpose."
"I was skeptical before beginning. 'Will this labyrinth do anything for me, how could it possibly bring me to God?' I remember thinking. But I heard others' experiences...and was almost immediately drenched with the Holy Spirit upon entering. I haven't felt this close to God...in years."
"This was a very calm and enlightening experience. Life has the habit of taking random turns, but...I see that it is not random but part of a plan. I do not necessarily need to see where I am in that plan. I noticed that if I looked around myself the twists and turns got mixed together, and I became confused; however, if I just gazed directly in front of myself, the path was clear."
"Until the last segment, I was not looking forward to the light. There was a joy in seeing the light at the end of this labyrinth."
"It was calming to come into this peaceful room from my stressful day. I often thought of the people who I really like when I was walking."
"Each turn...that took me away from the light...caused me to doubt whether I would make it. As time passed, I knew I would eventually make it even though I was moving slowly."
"The center seemed like the end, coming to God and becoming part of him."
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