I've never "messed up" walking a labyrinth...until yesterday. A Chartres-pattern labyrinth begins with a short jut forward before you are led to the left, circling a quarter of the circumference, your path three layers from the exterior. Next comes your first sharp turn, doubling back, one more layer towards the center. That's where I went awry: the first turn. I was noticing the lush green hills and distant mountains surrounding SFTS and didn't notice that I had stepped back into the lane I had just walked moments before. (View a 360 degree view of the Geneva Terrace Labyrinth at SFTS here). Still absorbed in the landscape, I found myself suddenly exiting the labyrinth, having barely begun.

I took a sharp breathe. My heart skipped a beat. I shook my head in disbelief before a wry smile crossed my lips. I had come to take this labyrinth walk immediately prior the DASD orientation (the first scheduled event of the three weeks). Maybe God was trying to tell me something: "You've walked many labyrinths in many different places (including this one!). You're familiar with this spiritual discipline. You've facilitated labyrinth walks for many different groups. But you have come to this place for the next three weeks to be formed in the art of spiritual direction by this particular community. You need to return to the beginning."

Phrased another way: "You know intellectually about the spiritual journey of which the labyrinth is a microcosm: purgation, illumination, union. But you need to go back to the beginning. You need to experience the spiritual journey fully with your whole self. This will take a lifetime. Go back to the beginning. For now, descend from the terrace vista. Head down the steps to orientation.

You crown the year with riches

All You touch comes alive:

untilled lands yield crops,

hills are dressed in joy.

--Psalm 65:13, ICEL

God, I give myself over to You. Touch me that I might come ALIVE.