pat loughery

Yesterday I was finally able to go walk my first labyrinth.

Entitled “Holy Ground”, it’s an outdoor labyrinth and garden in Monroe, Washington at the Monroe United Methodist Church. It’s located in the back parking lot, and is nestled in the middle of a few older homes in the neighborhood.

Here’s the sign introducing you to the spot:

Along the entry path:

The labyrinth itself:

Unfortunately, as it was the first labyrinth I’d walked – and the brochures labelled “First time?” in the center of the sign were emptied out – I didn’t have a good sense of what to do, besides walk slowly, meditate, pray. Even that was good – I had a deep sense of the sacred, even as there were cars whizzing by 150 feet away. I had a sense that there was a depth of ritual here that I would really like, if I could connect with it.

I’d like to go back and try again, with a better understanding of the prayer points along the way. I’d also like to check out, and try to do, the multimedia labyrinth that Dan Kimball describes in this article. Maybe for Lent, or maybe sooner – like for Advent, to settle us down and focus us during the Christmas season.