Reflections for the Journey

The year has passed, its twists and turns are memories on my Journey.

The memories of this year have been landmarks, points of transformation and change in my life. I have finished a year of college. I feel accomplished. I feel curious. I feel busy. I feel older and more prepared to successfully complete the tasks at hand. I feel younger and more overwhelmed than ever at the mysteries and challenges of the world in the twenty-first century. And, compared to last fall, I feel relatively at peace — with myself, with my life, with school, with my friends and family, and with my faith.

One of the most defining memories of my year came with the fulfillment of my HELM leadership project. At the start of the year, I decided that what I was most interested in exploring on campus was the effect of labyrinths as a tool of meditation and reflection for students and faculty at Kenyon. The term "labyrinth," in the spiritual sense, defines a path that winds in and out of a circular pattern toward the center. A labyrinth differs from a maze in that it has only one path, with no wrong turns or dead ends. In a similar way, it represents faith and life. Sometimes the walker is closer to the center and to God than at other times, but she is always on the path toward fully knowing God. There are not necessarily mistakes made in life, just choices from which we learn and move forward. Labyrinths have been used for over four thousand years, across cultures and across religions, which is why I felt they would be so appropriate at a small but diverse school like Kenyon. So, I constructed a labyrinth out of masking tape in a small gallery on campus the Saturday before Holy Week, and I invited anyone to come and walk.

The process of building and facilitating a labyrinth is a unique experience all its own. I have come to love labyrinths through the mentorship and ministry of Warren Lynn, director of Search and Call for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and member of Allisonville Christian Church in Indianapolis. He helped me learn the history and value of labyrinths, and he taught me about their construction and facilitation. What he couldn't prepare me for, however, was the overwhelming sense of satisfaction and, indeed, peace I would feel after building a labyrinth and watching other people on their Journey to the center.

When I woke up that morning, I was quite nervous. I was afraid that the labyrinth construction would not go smoothly. I was worried that no one would come to walk or that no one would care. Yet, as I prepared for the day, I found myself feeling closer to God than, perhaps, ever before in my life. While loading the car with all of my labyrinth-building tools, I remembered to stop and breathe — something my dad is constantly reminding me to do. So, I did. I stopped and I prayed. And, suddenly I was filled with an overwhelming sense of calm. It would be all right. I was ready to do this, and I knew how. People might come, people might not come, but the process was what mattered in the end. Besides, this wasn't for me, anyway. It was for God.

And, in the end, it was fine. It was amazing. My friends were so very willing and interested to help me build the labyrinth, despite being pulled out of bed "early" at 9:00 on a Saturday morning. The labyrinth looked beautiful. People did come, some who had walked several times before and some who had never heard of a labyrinth. I watched people walk quickly and people walk slowly. Some knelt and prayed at the center, while others spun inside it and left again. One girl kept switching from path to path, yet she made it to the center, astonishingly. One boy walked the whole way in with his eyes closed, feeling for the masking tape on the floor through his socks and stopping near windows to lift his face toward the sun. And, personally, I was able to experience walking my own labyrinth - one that I had built, one that I loved.

From this I take an approach to my summer, to the rest of my time at Kenyon, and to the rest of my life. There will be choices to make and many different ways to go about accomplishing things. There will be laughter and tears, successes and failures. There will be chances to grow. And, in the end, I will find my center. I will walk my own path to God.

The years go by, their twists and turns are memories on my Journey.