All Saints Labyrinth

Labyrinth
9am-12pm

Join us close to All Saints Day with a prayerful labyrinth walk in Friendship Hall. We will have the candle lit walk open from 9am to 12pm. Drop in! All are welcome. Light refreshments will be served.

About Labyrinths Labyrinths are one-way, maze-like paths used for walking prayer and contemplation. This year you are invited to walk the path thinking about loved ones who have passed.

The labyrinth walking path has been with humanity for thousands of years. Christianity adopted and tweaked the ancient labyrinth form to speak specifically to the journey toward the heart of Christ. The path traced by a labyrinth is a symbol of spiritual movement. It is a way to think of living a disciplined spiritual life.

The switchbacks and redirections are predictable. One minute you are walking directly toward the heart of Christ, then you find yourself on the outer ring. You walk your way back to the center. Eventually, though, the path leads to God at the center of things.

The paths first became associated with Christianity and Christian architecture under Constantine but reached their height of use in the middle ages. Many medieval cathedrals built labyrinths into their floors by using different colors of stone or tile. It was popular, at that time, to go on either pilgrimage or crusade to Jerusalem as an act of devotion. The labyrinth was a counterpoint to that trend. You don’t need to travel thousands of miles to experience God. God isn’t sitting at a holy site thousands of miles away, God is right here calling out to you. Pilgrimage towards God is an attitude.

Labyrinths have been experiencing a resurgence within the last 20 years. Churches are building them as places of walking prayer on church grounds. The UMC church in Paradise church may be the closest permanent labyrinth to us found at a United Methodist Church, but labyrinths transcend denomination. Temporary labyrinths, like ours, are common.