A Permanent Labyrinth at St. Paul’s
On Sunday afternoon, June 5th, we will dedicate and bless a permanent Labyrinth and Meditation Garden at St. Paul’s.    Bishop Sylvestre Romero will be with us for this long anticipated ceremony.  The clergy and people of El Camino Real have been invited as well as people from Cambria and surrounding communities.  It will be quite a celebration!  The 3:00pm service will be followed by refreshments and the labyrinth will be open for walking.  And unlike with the canvas labyrinth if it rains we will walk anyway! 

This labyrinth, like our canvas one, is based on a labyrinth inlaid with stone on the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France.  It has eleven circuits, or concentric circles, with a twelfth forming a six petaled rosette at the center.  The trip from the entrance at the outside edge to the center and back covers about 1/3 of a mile and takes about twenty minutes to complete at a casual pace.  There is only one path into the center and the same path leads back to the outside.  You will not get lost or stuck during your walk.  There is no right way to walk the labyrinth.  Some people walk normally, others carefully place one foot in front of another, still others dance.  You may walk in a group, hand in hand with a friend, or alone.

Just as there are different ways of walking the labyrinth there are also different ways to approach it.  It can be used as a walking meditation to quiet the mind or as a body prayer, taking the opportunity to talk to God or ask God for help.  You can enter the labyrinth with a question that needs answering and be open to your intuition as you walk.  As you enter the labyrinth you can begin to leave the world behind, let go of your worries and concerns so that by the time you arrive at the center you are ready to be quiet and listen for God within you.  Then you can return to the outside  carrying God with you back into the world, refreshed and ready for life again.

“It’s something you experience on your own, even though there may be others walking the labyrinth at the same time,” said Stevely Anderson.  “Some people are overcome with tears.  It can be very emotional.  For me it wasn’t, it was very subtle.  It’s like a veil comes around you.”  For each person the experience is different, and often each experience is different.  One time it’s filled with tears and emotions, the next a sense of peace and calmness.

We hope that our labyrinth and meditation garden will be a place for people to come whenever they need quiet and rest.  It is a place of beauty nestled against the hillside over looking the hills and valley.  May it bring healing and comfort to all who visit.