The Bethany Labyrinth
The labyrinth may be a set path, but it does not offer a set experience. Instead, it offers a door that anyone may go through, to discover realities that meet each person where each most needs to be met.
— from An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor.
The Bethany Labyrinth at St Elisabeth’s is enjoyed by people of all different faiths as a quiet and beautiful space for meditation, centering, and connecting with the Sacred. It is located west of the rectory at the corner of Hawthorn, Greenwood, and South Avenues.
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A Labyrinth is an ancient and cross-cultural spiritual tool designed to foster contemplation and spiritual transformation. Walked by contemplatives and lay people alike for over 4,000 years, labyrinths are typically formed as a circle with a singular path leading to a center. It is a path of prayer, a walking meditation, and supports the practice of mindfulness.
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Open from dawn to dusk every day of the year. the Bethany Labyrinth is a modification of the famous Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth in France.
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Walking the Labyrinth
Remember
At the Threshold of the Labyrinth
Take time to offer gratitude. You are invited to count your blessings and be thankful for people that support you and places that nourish you. You may choose to focus on a mantra, prayer, or intention. If there’s a specific situation challenging you, bring it to mind and form a healing question if possible.
Release
Entering the Labyrinth
This is the time to quiet the mind, let go of the mental chatter and release your burdens. Open your heart to feel whatever it might feel. You may want to connect with your breath or your footsteps. Relax and move at your own pace. If you meet someone on the path, do what feels natural. You may move ahead of others, and they may pass you by. Follow your intuition and experience your experience.
Receive
Pause in the Center
This is a place of reflection. Pause and stay for as long as you like. Open yourself to your higher power. Listen to that still, small inner voice. In the safety of the labyrinth have a heart-to-heart talk with yourself.
Return
Outward through the Labyrinth
When you are ready, retrace your steps (or in a processional design you may follow a separate path out). On the return journey, the integration of your experience happens. You may feel a sense of well-being, healing, excitement, calm or peace. You may also Reclaim, Restore, Renew some aspect of your life.
Each labyrinth experience is different. You may Remember, Release, Receive & Return anywhere and in any order on the labyrinth. You might not notice anything or have an insightful, transformative journey. Whatever occurs, listen to your heart and take your time. See what happens on a different day or at another location. The above description is only a thumbnail sketch. You provide the bigger picture.