Prayer Labyrinth

As I walked down the very steep and dangerous path, I looked down to see a giant circle in the ground. Within this giant circle there was a smaller circle in the middle and a series of paths. As I looked closer to it, I saw that it was one giant path, winding and twisting within the giant circle leading to the smaller one. This was the prayer labyrinth.

I finally make it down and found myself at the entrance of the labyrinth. I can clearly see the middle and my engineering mind starts to kick in. I start thinking, "Why don't I just walk right to the center? I'll save so much time and it's that much more efficient." However, I wanted to walk down this path to see where it will take me and how it will speak to me. So I resisted the urge to just skip right to the middle, even though it was the "logical" thing to do.

I took my first steps into this prayer labyrinth walking very slowly making sure that I don't miss any turns. I remember walking through the winding paths, sometimes they would lead me so close to the inner circle that I could even touch it but next thing I know, the path takes me away from the inner circle leaving me the further away from when I first started. I remember pausing during the times I was furthest away thinking to myself, "Why am I even doing this? Why don't I just skip to the middle?" I felt frustrated and impatient because every time I got close to the circle, I would be taken away again. However, I still stuck with it and waited patiently.

After what seemed like an eternity (30 min), I make the final turn into the center of the circle. I remember as soon as I reached it and stood in the center, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. It was so much more fulfilling going through that journey to reach the center. Knowing that I followed the path that God laid out for me.

This experience really reminded me of my tendencies to constantly rush into things. Many times I will see the goal and even sometimes the path to it but I will often try and skip parts of the path and go right to the center. I realize that the reward in the center is only worth it if I walk the path that God has laid out for me. Most of the reward is not the end goal in sight, but experience of the journey.