FCC's Labyrinth
FCC's beautiful stone labyrinth was built in 2004 and has become a destination for downtown workers and others who wish to walk it and participate in this centuries-old spiritual discipline. It is also the site of our well-attended summer concert series.
Below you will find some information about the history of labyrinths and their role in spiritual seeking. |
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What is a Labyrinth?
A labyrinth is a tool for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation. Labyrinths are used worldwide as a way to quiet the mind, find balance, and encourage meditation, insight and celebration. They are open to people as a non-denominational, cross-cultural tool of well-being.
The labyrinth is an ancient symbol that represents wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path from the edge to the center and back out again. A labyrinth is unicursal – it is only one path, therefore the way in is the way out. At its most basic level, the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.
You may walk the labyrinth for many reasons. A labyrinth is a place to gain deep insight, celebrate life, find a peaceful moment, or practice a ritual of remembrance. It is a tool to support prayer, guide healing, deepen self-knowledge, and empower creativity. Walking can clear the mind and give awareness of the spiritual journey. Some say that walking the labyrinth helps them see their lives in the context of a path or pilgrimage. The labyrinth can provide solace, spur action, or provide renewed strength. Walking can help you pay attention to your own heart, help you learn to be present in the moment, and quiet the chatter in your mind.
The labyrinth is an ancient symbol that represents wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path from the edge to the center and back out again. A labyrinth is unicursal – it is only one path, therefore the way in is the way out. At its most basic level, the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.
You may walk the labyrinth for many reasons. A labyrinth is a place to gain deep insight, celebrate life, find a peaceful moment, or practice a ritual of remembrance. It is a tool to support prayer, guide healing, deepen self-knowledge, and empower creativity. Walking can clear the mind and give awareness of the spiritual journey. Some say that walking the labyrinth helps them see their lives in the context of a path or pilgrimage. The labyrinth can provide solace, spur action, or provide renewed strength. Walking can help you pay attention to your own heart, help you learn to be present in the moment, and quiet the chatter in your mind.
How do I Use the Labyrinth?
There is no right or wrong way to walk the labyrinth - you can use the labyrinth in any way that meets your needs. Below are some general guidelines that you may find helpful.
You might want to meditate on one or two of these quotations as you walk:
1. Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.— Dr. Martin Luther King
2. When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open and love steps forth to heal every thing in sight.— Michael Bridge
3. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and will not let your be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing out so that you may be able to endure it.” - I Corinthians 10:13
4. “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Creator” – Colossians 1:11-12a
5. “The LORD is my strength and my might, and has become my salvation.” - Exodus 15:2a
6. “But those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” - Isaiah 40:31
7. Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.—Mahatma Gandhi
8. Like water, be gentle and strong. Be gentle enough to follow the natural paths of the earth, and strong enough to rise up and reshape the world.— Brenda Peterson
9. The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.— Robert Louis Stevenson
10. Even thought you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must lean how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today? - Mary Manin Morrissey
11. There is nothing that makes us love someone so much as praying for them.— William Law
12. If thou could’st empty all thyself of self, like to a shell dishabited. Then might He find the on the ocean’s shelf, and say – this is not dead – and fill thee with Himself instead.—T.E. Brown
13. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.—- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Take a few moments before you enter the labyrinth to being to clear your mind. Some like to say a prayer before they begin, others spend a few minutes focusing on sounds around them or the rhythm of their breath.
- As you walk the labyrinth, you are invited to be in a spirit of prayer, meditation, reflection, thanksgiving, searching, or play.
- Contemplate the steps you are taking as you move through the labyrinth. Walk as slowly or quickly as is natural for you. Feel free to pause at any time, and especially as you reach the turns in the path.
- In the silence of meditation often the most profound wisdom will present itself. Be guided by your own thoughts - whatever you think or feel is right. Each walk is unique.
- If others are on the path with you, feel free to pass them or let them step around you.
- When you reach the center, feel free to take some time to think before beginning your outward journey.
You might want to meditate on one or two of these quotations as you walk:
1. Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.— Dr. Martin Luther King
2. When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open and love steps forth to heal every thing in sight.— Michael Bridge
3. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and will not let your be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing out so that you may be able to endure it.” - I Corinthians 10:13
4. “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Creator” – Colossians 1:11-12a
5. “The LORD is my strength and my might, and has become my salvation.” - Exodus 15:2a
6. “But those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” - Isaiah 40:31
7. Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.—Mahatma Gandhi
8. Like water, be gentle and strong. Be gentle enough to follow the natural paths of the earth, and strong enough to rise up and reshape the world.— Brenda Peterson
9. The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.— Robert Louis Stevenson
10. Even thought you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must lean how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today? - Mary Manin Morrissey
11. There is nothing that makes us love someone so much as praying for them.— William Law
12. If thou could’st empty all thyself of self, like to a shell dishabited. Then might He find the on the ocean’s shelf, and say – this is not dead – and fill thee with Himself instead.—T.E. Brown
13. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.—- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Labyrinth History
The earliest recognizable labyrinth dates back some 5000 years or so. Small ones, called finger labyrinths, are located in Neolithic caves and as pictographs on “sacred” rocks. The larger labyrinths - those that can be walked - seemed to have emerged during the Classical times of the ancient world. The first labyrinth that could actually be walked was probably constructed by King Amenemhet III around 1800 BCE at Fayoum in Egypt.
Labyrinths were very popular during medieval times. As many as twenty-two of the eighty Gothic cathedrals housed labyrinths. At times, they were used as a pilgrimage and/or for repentance. One of the most famous labyrinths is the 11-circuit labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral in France, inlaid in the stone floor in 1201.
Labyrinths were very popular during medieval times. As many as twenty-two of the eighty Gothic cathedrals housed labyrinths. At times, they were used as a pilgrimage and/or for repentance. One of the most famous labyrinths is the 11-circuit labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral in France, inlaid in the stone floor in 1201.
