Last week I lead a discussion called "Living the Questions" where we talked about Faith as a Journey, moving us from certainty to the complexities and peace of faith. Our next discussion is Sunday April 18th at the main campus of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. As we discussed faith as a journey I briefly brought up the spiritual tool of labyrinths. I find it easier to pray while my feet are moving and particularly like to walk the outdoor labyrinths at Marionjoy rehabilitation center off of Roosevelt Road in Wheaton as well as at the Theosophical Center off of Main Street in Wheaton. There's even one on the Riverwalk in downtown Naperville. There's a website where you can buy labyrinths and although I do not endorse them, they do have some helpful pictures and information, some of which I have enclosed. I would be happy to talk to anyone about walking a labyrinth. Cheers to life and faith as a journey!

What Is A Labyrinth?
Labyrinths are ancient human symbols known to go back at least 3500 years and probably much older. They appeared on most inhabited continents in prehistory, with examples known from North & South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. The labyrinth symbol was incorporated into the floors of the great Gothic pilgrimage cathedrals of France in the twelfth & thirteenth centuries. The most famous extant design is the example in the nave floor of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres outside of Paris. This labyrinth was built of honey colored limestone with marble lines around the year 1200 and is now over 800 years old.

Why Do We Walk Labyrinths?
A labyrinth is not a maze, but a walking meditation device with a single winding path from the edge to the center. There are no tricks, choices or dead ends in a labyrinth walk. The same path is used to return to the outside. Combining a number of even older symbols, including the circle, spiral and meander, the labyrinth represents the journey inward to our own true selves and back out into the everyday world.

Walking a labyrinth is a right brain activity (creative, intuitive, imaginative), and can induce or enhance a contemplative or meditative state of mind. It is a tool which can clear the mind, calm our anxieties during periods of transition and stress, guide healing, deepen self-knowledge, enhance creativity, allow for reconciliation, restore feelings of belonging to a community, and lead to personal and spiritual growth.

For many walkers the labyrinth becomes a metaphor for the journey of life: although full of twists and turns, each of us is on a single path through his or her life, and yet each person's journey is a separate and distinct qualitative experience. In walking labyrinths, modern seekers are emulating and recapturing the pilgrimage tradition of many ancient faiths.

Impact

I came home one day and my husband started talking about shopping more at Whole Foods. I have always loved Whole Foods. When I was younger, after church on Sundays, my family often "browsed" Whole Foods, smelling all the great and unique coffee beans and other foods. We were told smell but don't touch! We didn't buy anything but I didn't care, I loved it there. For special occasions, now as an adult, I'll try to buy yummy cheeses or meats or fruits and veggies there, and try to keep a poker face when I look at the receipt at the checkout. I have found that one good meal at Whole Foods can easily be half of my entire week's grocery bills shopping somewhere else. So when my husband all of a sudden passionately talked about our "need" to start shopping at Whole Foods more, I thought, "are you serious? I'm finally getting this coupon thing down to a science and keeping our grocery bills down." Then he had me watch the movie, Food Inc.. Enough said, we're shopping at Whole Foods as much as we can now. Our budget is taking a hit, but it's a justice issue for us now; not a matter of "better eating" as much as it is about fair labor laws and treatment of humans and animals alike. Knowing where our food comes from amounts to how we "treat our neighbor as ourselves." And although I can't write off my Whole Foods receipt as a charitable tax deduction; as long as I'm not splurging on the triple layered mouse dessert I feel like our new shopping routine is much less about luxury and more about a sustainable life for all life.

Living the Questions

I remember in High School asking a friend the question, "If the Jews are God's Chosen People then what does that make Christians?" I was a member of the Christian Student Union, and the boy I was asking was the leader of it. Not only was I excited to get into such theological debates because I respected his opinion but also because I had a huge crush on him and wanted to know him better. I don't remember exactly what he said, even though I can remember asking the question.

After four 1/2 years of seminary and six years as on ordained minister I'm stilling asking that question, amongst many others. In fact I just asked someone I respected that exact question the other day. He said that since God's promise was to Sarah and Abraham, that the promise belongs to all of Abraham and Sarah's descendents--Jews, Christians and Muslims. I had never thought about it that way, and told him I would have to think about that.

The third Sunday every other month, starting this February 21st I'll be leading a class where we can "live the questions," called... Living the Questions! It's a time where I hope we can grow in understanding, join in healthy conversation, and not always walk away with answers but always come to love God more. As a pastor I have always thought of myself as a midwife who helps people journey through the hard labor of new life. Come join me 11:30 in the Bonhoeffer Conference Room in the main campus February 21st as we labor together in faith. I'll see you there!