Here's the gist: the labyrinth is a winding pathway that looks at first glance like a maze -- but isn't. It's a path that wraps around until ending in a circle smack dab in the middle.
The idea is to walk through it while praying, considering how the journey of your life mirrors the journey through the labyrinth, ending in the center, where you turn around and exit through the same path. Apparently they have pagan roots but somehow got adopted by religious folk who started using them as a prayer and meditation device. (Still, I strongly suggest you pray before entering, rebuking any evil presence that might be loitering at the invitation of previous visitors who are there to meditate on "gods" other than Christ.)
I stepped into one that's located in Camp Hill. It's a beautiful area and the walk was quiet and peaceful but void of any major revelations.
Switch to another labyrinth, this one found between the covers of a good book. I had it on the summer's reading list to enjoy Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan with my girls, completely forgetting that it's written in King's English, so full of "thees," "thous," and "wherefores" that we all three are covered with my spit within the first few pages. A quick search revealed what I was hoping for: a retelling available at the local library in today's vernacular.
The girls and I snuggled in for the duration. And what a labyrinth it was! No simple winding path here -- Christian journeys through the Slough of Despond, past Legality's Home, on to the Place of Deliverance, over the Hill of Difficulty, stops briefly at the House Beautiful, through the By-Path Meadow, into the Doubting Castle, through the Delectable Mountains, past the Enchanted Ground, through the River of Death, finally arriving at the Celestial City. (Whew!) His journey isn't a solitary one as mine was in the quiet Camp Hill park -- his traveling companions include Evangelist, Obstinate, Pliable, Help, Mr. Worldly Wisdom, Mr. Legality and his son, Civility, Faithful, Hopeful, and Ignorance.
This abbreviated version of the story gave us just enough of the original without exhausting the girls' attention spans. Multiple times I laid the book in my lap and sobbed quietly while the girls patiently waited for me to resume reading. They were undoubtedly puzzled by my strong reaction to a simple story, but inside I was relating my own journey to Christian's -- I, too, have journeyed on a winding path no less dramatic, often tempted by Deceiver, narrowly missing plummeting off the Cliffs of Destruction only to be rescued time and again by friends, Shining Ones and the King himself. No simple, winding path for me, but a harrowing journey full of cliffhangers and untimely twists and turns, some detours sent by Satan to tempt and trap me, others by God to test and try me and ultimately strengthen my faith in His goodness.
Whether you meditate by walking in a quiet garden or by mentally revisiting the adventurous roadmap already traversed, the final conclusion is what matters most. Beloved Pilgrim, it's not the terrain that proves God's grace, but the fact that He walks every step with us, whether we are dancing on the mountaintops or mucking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, for "....thou art with me...." Jesus, the Master Mapmaker, will see us through to the end.
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