Along the path, my first observation was of its narrowness. It is too narrow for two to walk abreast, so one must walk it alone. While walking alone though, you could find yourself passing someone on his or her own walk through the trail. Keep focused! Be intentional! Watch your step! Do not veer from your goal along the path, or you may lose your footing, stumble, or fall. Yes, like life, it is indeed a path you must walk alone. No one can walk it for you, or you for them. Each must experience it in their own way, at their own pace, and the experience indeed becomes a unique one for each -- no two alike. Then were times when I felt that my path and that of my friend would cross, but we only passed one another along the way, as occurs many times in life.
While looking downward, I began to meditate, questioning as I do so often in life. "When will I get to the end?" Then I recalled that as in life, I also sometimes want to rush through the experience of being there "in the present." I began to chuckle to myself. How truly this is a metaphor of the Path of Life. "I'll slow down and be in the moment," I told myself in my mind. As I slowed down, I became more focused and the walk became less cumbersome. I chuckled once more to wonder why I often want to hurry through my own life to only get to an end. Have you ever had this experience? The joy and experience is truly in the journey, is it not? Again, I remind myself that I can not walk this path for someone else less they experience it for themselves; nor can I walk it for my loved ones in their lives. I must let them choose the pace of their path and have their own joy-filled experiences.
I notice that my pace has grown slower now and as I turn the narrow curves, I am yet more focused and balanced than before. Still, I find I can't totally quiet that impatient part of my being that can't wait to reach the center to experience the next level of my path. Oh, how I am learning to acknowledge the duality's found in one's being. In this acknowledgment, I find it quicker to rebalance within the duality. But now -- now I hear myself asking God, "When will I be there?" And then, so profoundly, I hear in my head, my own voice echoing God's reply, "You are there when you are here." And I stop -- and smile -- and look around at the beauty that is surrounding my life and me. "Yes God, you are truly right." I whisper in my head. "I am there when I am here. Thank you," and I continued on, more focused, more balanced, and now more at peace than before. I am there. I've been there always but didn't see it that way until I began to travel this path. Isn't it awesome how we do things often over and over then in one sudden instant we begin to change our view and stop and choose to do it different this time! Then there is a shift -- a shift from re-creating to creating.
All too soon it seems I have arrived at the center. Imagine that! Now, it's all too soon! There is a single tree in the center of the circle. How fitting it is! So I sit on a tree stump and as I look up, I see my friend sitting directly across from me on the other side of the circle. There is a special glow around her from her walk along the trail. The trail has a beauty all it's own and so does she. So now I close my eyes and still my thoughts. There is a calm that flows in the center of the circle. Once more in my life I find myself sitting in that all familiar void. The void -- where anything is possible and all thing imaginable. It is fitting at this point to give thanks to God for all I have experienced along my path of life thus far. This center circle is a halfway point along the trail, as this would appear to be a halfway point as well in my life. I have so much to be thankful for. There are so many countless people whom I have passed along my path thus far that I also need to thank; so I do. I ask God to send messages out to those who have touched my life and made contributions along my path.
As the sun is beginning to set, I realize that it is time to start back out of the circle, and I continue along the trail to find my way through, before darkness engulfs me. I exit the circle by the exact same path from which I entered. There is no true hurry in my step now, even though I know it will be dark when I reach the end of the trail. I feel the presence of God's love to guide me. As I look up, the sky is turning brilliant shades of gold, orange, and red to match the autumn of the woods surrounding me. Though the evening chill has also made its presence known, I feel the warmth from within comforting me while I continue my walk. There is no impatient hurry in my step now as there was earlier. There is no need to hurry past being present in the moment now. So what happened? The walk back out of the trail seems to take less time. Why is that, I wonder? I'm not hurried and I arrive there quicker, although it's the same distance. Is it just a way of looking at it all? This would seem to be another puzzle to contemplate at another time.
At the exit, is my friend, standing, patiently waiting for me. When I shared my thoughts with her, she shared one with me. She noticed that there was no short cut along the path and observed what would be possible if you created one. One could skip over to another path, but what is to say that it would get you to your destination any quicker. It might even set you back a distance in your travels. And -- even if one took a different path than what was intended, eventually you would end up back on that same narrow path, traveling once more in the direction of your destiny. This has truly been a unique experience for me, yet I know I shall travel the path again someday. I feel that, on that day, while it may all seem new in some ways, it will also carry with it a gentle familiarity as well.
What at first glance, looked lifeless, or even maybe a "non-event," turned out to be abundant with hidden treasures and brimming with the very essence of life itself. I looked up the word Labyrinth in my Thesaurus and found descriptive words such as: puzzle, web, complexity, and maze. Wow, what a trip. You can find the trail, at Mercy Center in St. Louis County if you are so inclined, or look for one in your community. They are worldwide. While this was only my first experience along the Labyrinth, I have since walked it again and found new and different discoveries. Have you ever noticed how some feelings are so profound that words pale in explaining the emotions you experience? Maybe it's because words are of human design and emotions are of God's design, and one does not necessarily mirror the other?
It's been about a month since my first experience but today I went to Mercy Center to take pictures of the Labyrinth for this book. Upon my arrival I found the path being rejuvenated.. They had cleared off all the wood chips. I decided to walk the path regardless. I approached my first step with a reverence, knowing that whatever I was about to experience today would be unique in itself.
Here I was, truly standing in a void I never expected to witness. The path was down to bare bones yet I wasn't surprised to feel the beauty that could be found in it's simplicity. Reverently, I slowly proceeded along the path, ever so careful that the heals of my shoes shouldn't rip the bare tarp underfoot. By measure, the path is not any wider than when it has wood chips spread along it in it's midst, but it gives this illusion in the absence of the chips.
A glance toward the center of the circle reveals one single yellow rose, placed by someone unknown for some reason unknown. I'll tell you of my love for a yellow rose later, but not it would appear someone else besides me has a need for a yellow rose as well. It indeed warms my heart that they left it there. I know it wasn't just to share with me, but it is pleasant nonetheless. It wouldn't disappoint me if they didn't if they didn't put wood chips down again. My walk today seems to be founded on simplicity and the beauty to be found within simplicity. I've had a lot to reflect on today with my walk through this simple path. Simple yet still complex even in its simplicity. With the absence of wood chips - the void created gives my mind another chance to see possibility in its rawest form. And then the possibility to create from that rawest form another thing of beauty. I began to ask myself how could I continue to see the beauty in all the simple things of life with each new day. I have a great want -- a want to always be able to see the beauty even in the simplest of things. Is it that our eyes are open to the beauty of all around us when we know beauty in our hearts? It's as if the moment I "know" the meaning of something in my heart -- that at that moment of knowing, it manifests itself throughout the Universe. It was the same with the first moment I truly knew the meaning of love and became at one with the knowing the meaning -- love showed up all around. Or the moment I first realized the meaning of peace within my heart -- peace began showing up everywhere else as well. In some cases I brought it along with me! And today as with this stone and tarp path in the absence of ... I still find more. I didn't expect any of this today -- but I'm glad for the experience as always. Thanks God.
