Walking a sacred path

Lutheran, The, Nov 1999 by Eickmann, Lori

Kathy Westley had never heard of a labyrinth before she walked one five years ago during a' conference at Pacific Lutheran Seminary, Berkeley, Calif It changed her life.

I had this deep, inner-core connection to the Spirit," says Westley, a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Dublin, Calif. I was moved to tears. I had a sense of being called to something, but I felt like Moses saying, 'God, why meTI don't know anything. I need the index to look up something in the Bible."

Westley completed her first labyrinth walk with a sense of mission: "We should have this at church."

With its handmade labyrinth, Resurrection has now joined churches that are rediscovering the winding footpath as a tool for prayer and meditation. Some other Lutheran churches that use labyrinths for spiritual growth and outreach include Peace, Austin, Texas; Holy Trinity, Hickory, N.C.; Christ the King, Torrance, Calif (see page 16); and Peace, Danville, Calif The Lutheran-Episcopal campus ministry center at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, makes a labyrinth each semester to raise funds.

Christians adopted the labyrinth in the 12th century when the Crusades made pilgrimages to Jerusalem difficult. Labyrinths were placed in cathedral floors throughout Europe so the faithful could pray and spiritually attend to their journey as if they were on a physical pilgrimage to the holy city.

The Worldwide Labyrinth Project at San Francisco's Grace [Episcopal] Cathedral facilitated the labyrinth's rediscovery. Lauren Artress, head of special ministries there, wrote Walking a Sacred Path (Riverhead, 1995) to inspire the revival of the movement worldwide.

Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has no tricky dead-ends. It has one path-a pattern of U-turns-that leads to the center and then out again. The center is typically shaped like a six-petaled flower, sometimes called "the New Jerusalem."

The twisting path becomes a metaphor for the faith journey, a mirror for what is happening in one's life (see page 16). For Christians, the path also is a reminder of Christ's journey to the cross.

Walking a labyrinth models three classical movements of the Christian spiritual life, described by the theologian Origen in the third century:

* Purgation-Letting go of sins, daily worries, destructive attitudes and life's roadblocks. It is the "emptying" that can happen in prayer while journeying toward the labyrinth's center.

* Illumination-Experiencing God's loving presence, finding insight or clarity about your life situation or a problem. For many this occurs as they rest and reflect at the center.

* Union-Feeling freed to do the work God inspired. This occurs as the pilgrim leaves the center in communion with God.

'it was awesome'

Resurrection member Holly Stephens was drawn to the labyrinth after attending a class in which artist Paula Povilaitis explained its history. Povilaitis helped design the church's labyrinth.

Stephens, who enjoyed helping create the labyrinth, was skeptical that it could bring her closer to God. Then she walked it. "It was awesome," she says. I felt all the people who worked on it. When I got to the center I really felt the Presence. I have goose bumps just talking about it."

Noel Sollom-Brotherton, 12, also felt God's presence in the center. "I was there for a long time," he says. "It just felt good."

Jan Sollom-Brotherton, a pastor of Resurrection, says the labyrinth's potential for reaching the unchurched is one of its greatest gifts. "It's a way of bringing people into closer communion with God," she says, adding that members are considering building an outdoor labyrinth to allow greater availability to the public.

Westley urges other congregations to use the labyrinth but cautions that people need to educate themselves about its power and promise. "It will attract people," she says. "You have to be ready for that. You can't pick and choose who will be attracted to it-and that's scary to some people."

Westley emphasizes that Resurrection embraced the labyrinth as a tool of the spiritual life because parishioners were introduced to it through a retreat and class.

It took six months for members-- from retreat participants to Sunday school children to the youth group and elderly members-to build the 20-foot-diameter labyrinth, which is half the size of the one it is modeled after at Chartres Cathedral in France.

But now they know the power of this tool, Westley says, adding, "The heart feels it. Our souls are crying for this."

Eickmann, a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Dublin, Calif, is a student at Pacific Lutheran Seminary, Berkeley, Calif. Until recently she was a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News.