Writings of a Beholder 🌿 10.28.22
Lessons from the prayer labyrinth & other resources for your weekend
Weekly writings of a beholder 🌿
Lessons from the prayer labyrinth
Have you ever heard of a labyrinth or know what it is?
If not, you’re in good company, because before last weekend, I had heard the word in passing and read it in books but never truly understood the concept or its importance.
Last weekend, I took a trip with my husband and 11 other strangers to The Hermitage in Three Rivers, Michigan, for a 48-hour silent guided retreat. The Hermitage is a Christian contemplative retreat center dressed in acres upon acres of beautiful wooded areas, walking trails, open fields, prayer gardens, and, you guessed it, a prayer labyrinth.
A prayer labyrinth is traditionally a big, circular, winding path that has an opening and a center. The earliest recorded prayer labyrinths can be traced back to 325 A.D. when the early Christians would place them on the floors of their churches and use them as a way to engage the whole being in prayer to God, walking its winding path as they made the journey to the center and back out again.
Prayer labyrinths today are used for this same purpose and can be commonly found in gardens and churches, inviting each faith pilgrim to come as they are, walk and pray to God, or simply rest in the Spirit as they allow the path of the labyrinth to lead them to the center; the center of the labyrinth, themselves, and God.
The labyrinth at The Hermitage took about an hour total to walk; in and back out again. And that’s not allotting time to soak in the center of the labyrinth, where you’re invited to rejoice, rest, and reflect.
I ended up walking the labyrinth twice, once on Saturday and then again on Sunday morning before we headed back home. I remember waking up on Sunday morning, sad that the retreat was coming to an end, and contemplating how I wanted to spend my last moments. I thought about returning to the prayer garden where I had spent the majority of my time the day before. But I felt a nudging in my spirit to walk the labyrinth again, so I listened and went.
I felt a stirring to walk slowly as I prayed and listened to the wind rustle the red and orange leaves barely hanging onto their branches in the trees. The wild, tall grasses that grew up and around me felt like a fortress guarding the path that was neatly mowed down, my feet finding their rhythm and cadence in step with the Spirit.
Before I knew it, I came to the center of the labyrinth and had planned to sit down and read or maybe journal. But instead, I found a comfortable seat on the grass, reached for my water thermos and grabbed the sliced apples out of my backpack that I had brought with me. I rested and ate in silence with God, taking in the beauty of His creation all around me.
Mark Buchanan in his book, The Rest of God, says,
"Quiteness allows room for God to speak or to be silent. Both are gifts. Quietness stops crowding the Holy Spirit, elbowing aside God's gentle presence. The end of striving makes room for dwelling."
Instead of feeling like I had to be a certain way in the presence of God in the center of that labyrinth, or do something for God, I just was. I learned to be with God rather than doing for Him, rather than striving. And that’s why I felt most at home as I walked the prayer labyrinth and sat in its sacred center.
The labyrinth was an invitation to rest, to dwell, to abide in the goodness and faithfulness of God. To receive silence as a gift rather than believing it to be a curse.
The labyrinth was an invitation to come Home to God and to myself; to my soul in its truest, purest state as hidden inside the Spirit. In the silence of that center, as I ate and communed with God, I grasped the beauty of beholding. I tasted the joy that came from simply being in my God-given Belovedness rather than working for it.
Beholding is living at Home in God and at home in your truest self, as you learn to commune and abide with and in the Spirit through the long, winding, journey of life. And sometimes, beholding and communing looks like sitting on the ground with a water thermos, some apples, and eating in silence so you can listen to the sound of the trees, the way the grasses brush up against one another, the engine of a car in the distance as its passenger sets off on their own life journey.
Native American writer and author, Randy Woodley, says that everything is spirit-filled. And I believe that God can be found in everything; even in the sound of the wind and the sacredness of silence.
That prayer labyrinth will forever hold a very special place in my heart, as will The Hermitage because they taught me many lessons about God, myself, and life.
The labyrinth taught me that silence with God is a gift to be received joyously, helping me lean in, listen, and pay attention. It taught me that beholding is about communing with God in everything I do — even the seemingly small things, like eating apples — and not working for Him. It taught me that beauty can be found in the simple cadence of a walk and that everything is God-breathed and good.
Prayer labyrinths represent the winding road of life, yes. But they also represent God’s faithfulness in guiding us onward.
xo,
celia
A breath prayer for your weekend
breathe in:
For God alone.
breathe out:
My soul waits in silence. (Psalm 62:1) *if you’d like to learn more about the practice of breath prayer, check out this blog post I wrote titled, How to Use Breath Prayer.
Resources & fun things to pick up
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: My new Advent eBook devotional, Be Still & Know: Seeking Still Moments in God’s Presence This Advent Season, will be available for purchase and download on November 1st only on my Etsy shop, The Beholding Co.! There will also be a set of limited edition Advent breath prayer cards available for purchase that same day, so mark your calendars! 😊 You can read more about my Advent devotional here: My heart behind the Advent devo
On Instagram this week, I created a short video documenting some of the highlights of my retreat weekend at The Hermitage, while also sharing some written reflections on my experience. If you want to, you can check that out here: Silent Guided Retreat Reflection
On my Etsy shop, The Beholding Co., I created a $5 digital prayer labyrinth download if you’d like to try the portable experience of using a prayer labyrinth. It comes with your own digital finger labyrinth along with a short guide on how to use it: Digital Prayer Labyrinth
Sacred Ordinary Days wrote a blog series on prayer labyrinths a few years back that I found really helpful. If you want to read more about the practice of prayer labyrinths, check it out here: An Invitation to Discover a Different Way to Pray
Grab a copy of my Bible study, You Are Beloved: a 21-day study on how to root your identity in the love of God, over on Amazon.
An invitation to pause & reflect
A regular practice of reflection helps us recognize what’s going on beneath the surface of our souls so that we can name it in the Lord’s presence. Because as we learn to name what we feel, what we need, and what we long for, we’re also learning to discern the Spirit’s sweet, gentle voice within our hearts and lives.
Take a few moments today or this weekend to journal or contemplate with the Holy Spirit the following question(s):
How could you create pockets of silence and stillness throughout your day or week to listen closely for the voice of God?
What might it look like for you to commune with God in the everyday mundane?
xo,
celia
