A couple weeks ago I went with my Worship Band Fundamentals class to a Labyrinth. I wrote an essay about this and I felt that it would be cool to share a little bit about what I got out of it!
The Labyrinth was, interesting, to say the least. To begin with, I thought that the design was incredibly beautiful. The intricacies of the labyrinth showed the incredible thought and work put into the making of it. Although, like many art pieces, it didn’t make me feel anything. I didn’t find much significance in the trip other than that I felt an incredible amount of peace. The peace of there not being a lot of distraction. The fact that it was a quiet environment was helpful. And not to mention, it was beautiful which helped with the experience I had. But to say that I didn’t hear God talking to me would be me disregarding the Lord being able to work in times of silence. The metaphor I retrieved from the Lord was that even though there is a possibility of me getting lost and going off the course, I know that at the end of the road I will reach the Lord. That’s how I felt halfway into the labyrinth and all the way out of it. The best thing about being out of the labyrinth was the feeling of seeing others getting out of it. I’m not sure what heaven sounds like when some enter the kingdom but I think it might be how I felt whenever anyone finished the labyrinth. I just had an overwhelming sense of joy for some reason. It was incredible.
If I had to use this as a part of my worship ministry and had full reign, I think I would make it a lot more interactive. I know what we went on was a very basic version as to what you can do, but I would love to see some more incorporated. Maybe a pastor or someone facilitating the walk, that way you have more to think about or do rather than it just being a silent walk, even though that’s not always what it is. I’m not against its use but I’d much rather be it used in a way that can be within other corporate worship times. Bringing in others within my own ministry and allowing for groups of people to do this together with a goal in mind would be interesting. Knowing that everyone all ends up in the same place can have deep meaning for team dynamics. Having the knowledge that our goal is to always make it to the center, and using it as a metaphor for worship that we want to get to heart of what worship is. Honestly, that’s probably the only way I could see it being used in a corporate worship experience. I certainly believe that you can have a very intimate moment with Lord without the need of other people and elements, but the labyrinth already caters for that kind of experience.
My final thoughts would be that I didn’t experience too much from the labyrinth, but, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have the ability to give people an intimate experience with the Lord. I believe with enough guidance, if provided, then there is a possibility that the labyrinth can be used as a corporate worship experience. It is most certainly good for the ability to bring a group of people to have an encounter with the Lord together.
