Labyrinth @ LivingRoom

Labyrinth At LivingRoom Tonight (St Stephen's Anglican Church)

Tonight at LivingRoom two of our groups did the Labyrinth with Eddie from Labyrinth Australia. It was an interesting and meaningful evening. We went through an interactive symbolic spiritual journey, which allowed us to create space to unwind and think.

The meditations of the Labyrinth include a spiritual journey where we listen to a cd which provides contemplative words and contemporary ambient music, and there are eleven stands / stops, where people are encouraged to take time to participate in the rituals and visuals in order to reflect on the deeper things of life. It reshapes a 12th-century ritual for the 21st century. These stands / stops include the followings:

1. Inward Journey - with a chair representing the start of the journey
2. Noise - with a computer and signal representing the noises around and within us, we were encouraged to be still, quiet and relax
3. Letting Go - with stones and a bucket of water where stones represent concerns and worries, we were encouraged to put the stones into the water as a symbol of letting go
4. Hurts - with pieces of paper for us to write down symbols / words of hurts, then put into a rubbish bin
5. Distractions - with map, compass and two magnets representing the distractions in our lives
6. Holy Space (The Labyrinth) - with an 'altar', bread and juice representing communion with God
7. Outward Journey - with contemplative words to encourage people to take the presence of God into the world
8. Self - with a mirror indicating we are made in the image of God, and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
9. Planet - with seed and soil representing our co-labouring with God
10. Others - with candles representing web of relationships and prayers for those around us
11. Impressions - with sand representing how our footprints will leave impressions in history

I really enjoyed the rituals and visuals of the Labyrinth tonight. They helped me to reflect on my relationship with myself (who I am in Christ), with others (the need to love and pray for others), with our world (the importance of taking the light out, and witnessing to a world that desperately needs the Lord) and with God (committed to focusing on God in all I do in my life and ministry, and not be distracted by things that are not of eternal value).

The last reflective question that got me pondering was this: "what will be left of us when we've left?" I wonder how you would answer that question. Let me ponder some more perhaps I might write about it later.