Remembrance Cretan labyrinth-walk-in-the-park organized by Interfaith CommUNITY of Gilbert, Arizona

 

On Saturday December 7 2013 we walked our first labyrinth-in-the-park with

Interfaith CommUNITY of Gilbert, Arizona

 

 

 

 

Anne and I had a try out the day before to connect all the colors and to lay out the foundation of the Cretan labyrinth.

 

On Saturday afternoon we started out to collect all the shoes people brought to place them in the labyrinth and to donate them afterwards to the WAMMS (Walk a Mile in My  Shoes) organization

 

Cliff and Sue brought candles and placed them in the labyrinth. The labyrinth gourd that I made for this occasion was placed in the center. Since this was a Remembrance walk the gourd was placed there to hold all the tags with the names of deceased loved ones that people would put in the gourd once entering the center.

 

RevJ welcomed everybody and blessed the event. We started out with a poem by James Dillet Freeman, a Unity pastor. He wrote this poem on the death bed of his wife. I altered the poem to be suitable for this event.

 

The Travelers

by James Dillet Freeman

 

They have put on invisibility

Dear Lord, I cannot see

But this I know, although the roads ascends

And passes from my sight;

That there will be no more night;

That You will take them gently by the hand

And lead them on

Along the road of life that never ends,

And they will find it is not death but dawn.

I do not doubt that You are there as here,

And You will hold them dear.

Our life did not begin with birth,

It is not of the earth;

And this that we call death, it is no more

Than the opening and closing of a door

And in Your house how many rooms must be

Beyond this one where we rest momently.

Dear Lord, I thank you for the faith that frees,

The love that knows it cannot lose its own;

The love that, looking through the shadows sees

That You and they and I are ever one.

 

 

 

Cliff and Eddy provided beautiful music, playing 'Nada te turbe, Nada te espante' while we were walking the labyrinth!

 

Then everyone started whenever feeling ready, entering the labyrinth at their own pace.

 

 

For the closing of the labyrinth walk we all gathered around Cliff and Eddy to sing one of the beautiful songs of the Taize Ecumenical Community in France: 'Nada te turbe, Nada te espante'. This is a singing meditation based on a prayer by Teresa of Avilla, a prominent Spanish mystic (1515-1582).

       

       Nada te turbe.         

Nada te espante.
(Todo se pasa.
Dios no se muda.
La paciencia
Todo lo alcanza).
Quien a Dios tiene
Nada le falta.
Sólo Dios, basta!

May nothing disturb you.
May nothing frighten you.
Everything passes on
but God is always there.
With patience
Everything is attained.
Whoever stays in God
Lacks nothing.
God is our Source!

 

We closed our Remembrance and Healing labyrinth walk by getting the labyrinth gourd out of the

center and holding it in the circle, saying all the names of our deceased loved ones and by voicing

and proclaiming "PRESENT" as a token of the fact that they live on in our hearts, holding dear

their spiritual heritage.

RevJ took the labyrinth gourd with the name tags with her to bring it into the service the next

Sunday morning for a continuing ceremony for everyone who was not able to attend the

Remembrance labyrinth walk.

 

What a Blessed and Special Remembrance and Healing labyrinth-in-the-park we had!!

Thank you all, especially Cliff and Eddy and everyone who brought shoes... 

And so we all went home, remembering the words of 'The Travellers":

"...And this that we call death, it is no more

Than the opening and closing of a door...

and that You and they and I are ever one."