LABYRINTH
PRAYER WALK - QUIET VIEW, KINGSTON, 18TH JULY 2011
I attended a Prayer Walk
at ‘The Quiet View’ at Kingston, near Canterbury today. The
Quiet View is a privately run site at the home of a former Chaplain
to the Pilgrim’s Hospice in Canterbury and is located at a high
point in a quiet, large house and garden on the Borders of Kingston,
with outstanding views of the surrounding countryside.
The Quiet View was
established as a development of Ministry in Paliative care by the
owner, particularly after the installation of a labryinth at the
Pilgrims Hospice. Now retired, the Chaplain involved has
developed her family home, over the past 30 years, to provide a
quiet place for retreats, quite days and with excellent facilities
for residential visits, small groups, and a wide range of activities
suited to religious or secular activities, framed in a quiet,
peaceful place, conducive to both prayer, spiritual development and
just ‘being’. She installed a Labyrinth several years ago for
personal and wider community use.
The day visit was
organised by our Curate, in response to a prompt that I had
felt a few weeks before. I needed to repeat in a different place
from the last time. The Quiet View was chosen as a guide was available to facilitate the prayer walk. It was
offered benefice wide, with a number expressing interest. In the
event, most of those expressing an interest could not come. 3 of us
actually, met a the parish church and travelled to Kingston, with
another travelling separately, joining us at Kingston.
We were welcomed by our guide who showed us the newly installed ‘Churt’ in the
ground, which is a modern, temporary dwelling based loosely on the
design of a Mongolian Church, but purpose designed as a multi-use
space for groups of up to 20 or more to meet for a wide range of
activities. The circular shape of the Churt, with its internal
accommodation height and light, is unique space and might be
considered a sacred space, although, not consecrated. Further
development is underway to extend its usability and to encourage
wider use across the community.
Our Guide, gave us a brief
on the history of her site, her ministry and the development of The
Quiet View. She outlined the history of the labyrinth going back to
pre-history, and its connection to spirituality. She had been
instrumental in the installation of one at the Pilgrims Hospice and
had studied the history in different places in the world, including
some ancient sites. There was a definite connection with
spirituality. 1In
the Middle Ages, walking a cathedral labyrinth was a substitute for
going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Not everyone could make the long
and arduous journey to the Holy Land, so walking a labyrinth in a
church was a devotional activity. Today meandering labyrinths are
often used as walking meditations, to focus the mind and put the
walker in tune with the greater reality metaphorically represented by
the labyrinth”.
Our guide outlined the
‘Three R’s’ of a prayer walk in the labyrinth.
“2 1. Releasing:
Letting go of the details of your life. This is the act of
shedding thoughts and distractions and a time for opening the heart
and quieting the mind. 2. Receiving:
Reaching the center and contemplating what is there for you to
receive. 3. Returning:
Following the same path out of the center as you walked in, and
entering the third stage, which is joining with your Higher Power, or
the healing forces at work in the world. It has been said that each
time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do
what your soul is reaching for.
After the introduction, we
were invited to pursue our own path to the labyrinth, by strolling
the garden, thinking or considering those things which might be on
our minds. I was able to visit a small shrine in a tent, which had
an Icon portraying friendship. There was also a Celtic Cross and a
modern statue, which I visualized as portraying a mother and child,
which I took to be Mary with the baby Jesus. I offered a prayer here.
I had a number of things
which I had been praying and reflecting on, the most urgent of which
appeared to be to do with the ill-health and apparent onset of
Dementia in an elderly relative. Whose future care is currently in
the hands of social services, which might mean of loss of
independence and move into a nursing home.
After I while I felt
prepared to start the labyrinth. On the way in, I was able to stop,
take stock and to offer the situations to God, to lay them at his
feet and to ask that they, through divine providence, might be make
the way forward clear. As I approached the centre point, I seemed
to sense that pressure was being lifted from me. A feeling of light
headedness and even a little giddy. The sensation was as of
something being let out, of perhaps breathing out the issues I had.
On reaching the centre, I was able to pause and to reflect briefly,
that I was feeling relieved. It seemed to me that a prayer specific
to the situation was the Lord’s Prayer, which I offered up,
silently it was heart-felt. I was prompted to move on. As I came
towards the exit, the thought came to me, that I needed to let it go.
The situation was out of my control, it was my relations immediate
family who should deal with the situation, my practical support and
prayers were enough.
After we had all been
around the labyrinth, we all gathered in in the Site Caravan and took
tea and discussed our experience and had a lovely conversation where
we learned something about each other, we might not have shared
before. This was definitely, for me the ‘returning’ being
affirmed as we each returned to our day to day lives and normality.
What did I get from
this experience:
1. For me, this was one
of those golden times, where, I had a tangible experience of God. It
seems to me that we struggle sometimes, to feel and know God within
our lives. He can become a disconnected entity, with a strained
relationship. I have learned that at times like this, it is
important to actively seek the face of God in others we meet and
inter-act with, but also to seek a quiet space, away from our
routine. Here we might experience him on a more personal, one-to-one
basis. Short retreats at sites such as The Quiet View, provide this
outlet. We need some prepare for them. I spent some quiet time in
prayer in St Peter’s Church to prepare. I said Morning Prayer aloud
in an empty church, which just seemed right at that time.
2. I seem to have a
tendency to visualize much of my experience of God.. I close my eyes
and seek to see a sign, shape or colour which reminds me of his
essence, whose face I have never seen, but hope to one day. In
this experience, while walking I sensed rather than saw
anything, which is something new. The gift of sensation is to
precious to waste, and I thanked God for it.
3. I know that some will
say that I have an overactive imagination, but what may be unreal for
them, is real for me. It’s yet another sign to me of God
remaining active in my life, minute by minute, hour by hour, each
day. This is a gift which I feel draws me even more towards active
Ordained Ministry, to serve and to share something of what God has so
generously given to me. Thanks be to God.
2http://www.pilgrimshospices.org/patient-care/labyrinth/about-our-labyrinth/
accessed 18 Jul 2011
