The Experience
I walked a new labyrinth on Saturday.
It was cold and windy, and soon it would be raining. I had come to the Labyrinth Walk Meetup directly from a Saturday morning centering prayer group, which incorporates a short lectio divina practice, where I had been chewing on Nan Merrill‘s twist on Psalm 46:10-11:
Be still and know that I am Love. I am exalted among the nations. I am exalted in the earth! The One who knows all hearts is with us; The Beloved is our refuge and our strength.
In preparation for the walk, I journaled about God as love and recalled how I have been invited this year to remain in God’s love. I set my intention of continuing to be present in the love of God and to be attentive to God as the Beloved without the need for words or the expectation for some grand experience. I gently rang the singing bowl to call attention to this threshold, this thin space, and I stepped into the labyrinth.
I walked the path laid out before me, holding my intention as lightly as I could, and gradually I began to notice––as I walked and paused and breathed and looked––that running through my mind was the hymn “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” one of my favorites but one that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. Over and over as I walked, I heard my favorite lines:
…Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free…
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of your love
Leading onward…
Each step I took, each breath, each pause along the journey was fully enveloped in God’s love. I had to smile, as I braced against the chilly wind, at the way God continually shows up to me––sometimes in surprising ways, and sometimes exactly as I hoped and prayed. Such a simple intentional walk brought such a beautiful and full experience of who God is.
I came to the end of the labyrinth, there on the edge of the world, breathed deeply, and rang the singing bowl again. This time, stepping across the threshold, I brought with me the current of God’s love leading me onward and the prayer that it might infuse and inform the way I choose to interact with the world as I re-entered it. I brought with me a renewed intention to remain in God’s love.
The Practice
Watch and listen to the video below and simply meditate on God’s love. You may want to replay the video a couple of times to allow yourself time to sink into the experience and notice what arises in you. As you play the video, you may want to try walking a finger labyrinth or coloring a mandala to help you focus your attention and energy. Be patient with yourself. Receive whatever comes up as a gift and hold it lightly before God.
You might also like to listen to this episode of the Daily Lectio Divina podcast.
The Response
And now, fellow pilgrims, I invite you to share about your experience in the comments below.
What came up for you?
What was it like to open yourself up to receive and experience God’s love?
Where might God’s love be leading you?
May we all walk in love today. Blessings on the journey, friends!