Self Examination. (Also called Examen: a formal examination of the soul or conscience by cooperating with the Holy Spirit.) This is, to me, one of the most powerful and compelling reasons to use a labyrinth along with the practice of prayer. It propels us to a sacred place (in the heart) take pause, reflect, and hear from the Lord.
It’s been used and enjoyed in Christianity for many hundreds of years.
Do you even remember what your New Years resolution was? By now, if you made a New Year’s resolution, the chances are that you, and more than half of the people who made them, have failed to keep it. The New Year provides us with a natural time of self-reflection, and plenty of us decide to do things differently. It’s time for a “do-over”.
This can be a good time of the year to re-reflect, now that the thrill of getting the New Year on the right foot has sort of washed up on the shores of your life…like….um..like a corpse, right?
I found this article helpful: How to use a labyrinth. (by Katherine Harms)
You can make a labyrinth for yourself, or your group, out of snow, masking tape, sand, bricks, stones, and string, among other things.
To visit a permanent labyrinth, near you, take a look at this site which is a world wide directory to find one.
Don’t forget this most important point: At the center of the Prayer Labyrinth, we are confronted, inescapably with the work of Christ. We must attend to the spiritual magnitude of the cross, and its tangible impact on the whole of our lives.
I hope you would like to spend an hour or a day in prayer with God, or gather with your family, or a few friends and travel to a labyrinth for a time of worship, prayer, Scripture reading, and self-examination with our faithful guide, the Holy Spirit.
I challenge you to include a prayer labyrinth soon in your spiritual practice, and literally walk with God.
Want to make your own? How to draw your own prayer labyrinth, here.
Have you have used a prayer labyrinth? If so, what was your experience. If not, would you like to? (Why or why not)
