Life Labyrinths

(Author's note: Traditions of walking a labyrinth as a form of meditation go back to at least the fourth century. Labyrinths in Christian contexts usually have a single, winding path instead of a maze’s many possible dead-end paths. Mazes are puzzles to be solved. Labyrinths are tools for meditation.) Life Labyrinths By Mark D. Stucky Nothing frightful lurks in sacred labyrinths. No Minotaur inside waits to devour us. No complex branches exist to confuse us. Only a single, circular path, winding back and forth, silently invites us. A path sketched on the ground. A path for prayerful healing of any monsters in our minds. A path intended for mindfulness, peace, and private pilgrimage toward contemplative centeredness. As in life, our path curves and endures sudden detours and substantial reversals. Our goal comes closer to us but then recedes from us over and over again. But we can be certain we’ll eventually enter that elusive center. (Originally published on Amethyst Review, 1 July 2022.) (Photo by Erez Attias on Unsplash.com.)