Labyrinth

In my future backyard, I would love to have a labyrinth. If you've never walked one, I would highly suggest it. Today, I went on an Advent Retreat where I walked a pretty awesome labyrinth. I will admit the driving factor in going on this retreat was the fact that my idol the Rev. Dr. Lauren Winner was leading it, :-) however it really was a great day. 

For the first half, we chose two out of three stations: Meditative Prayer (led by Lauren Winner); silent time outside reflecting on scripture and walking the labyrinth; and meditative baking. Shocking I know, but I did skip Lauren Winner's session and did labyrinth and baking. I'll tell you briefly why. Jesus and I have had sort of a love/hate relationship the past few months. Don't worry, I won't go into all of my seminarian-worries-about-what-I-actually-believe story here in this blog, but if you want to talk about it with me I'd be happy to. But let's just say it was good for me to take that intentional time with scripture and force myself to think about questions/ideas that have been intriguing/bothering me this semester. I sat outside on a dock overlooking a lake at the conference center on a warm, beautiful, sun-filled morning. After taking some reflection time I walked this labyrinth (I got the picture off the website, I didn't actually take any):

 It was in the middle of the woods and made out of broken glass and the white stones. It was beautiful and meditative. 

From the moment I entered the labyrinth, I knew where I would eventually end up. It's not a maze- it isn't intended to trick us. It winds in and out, but only goes to one place. I knew I was walking toward a goal. But the path to the goal was long and winding and it took me places I didn't expect it to. I kept following knowing that I would at some point make it to the middle. It took way longer than I expected (I was 20 minutes late for the next session... oops!). At times I got distracted, but always tried to bring myself back to the line from the liturgy I was meditating on (Into your hands O Lord, I commend my spirit). I was walking with Kat- we would pass each other, going different directions, but knowing that we were walking the same path. A silent support along the way. Other people started walking with us- people we didn't know who were in different stages of life, but who also silently walked with us. 

The meditation on scripture and this labyrinth helped me come to terms with some of my spiritual issues right now (basically, although I want everything to be figured out now, it's going to take lots of time and quite possibly a long journey before the answers to my questions make sense). 


Then, we baked pretzels. Did you know that pretzels were originally made to imitate a prayer position from medieval times? The prayer position this adorable little girl is making: 

So, we baked. It was good to work with my hands and kneed the dough. Since I've been baking all semester, I thought it would be good to think about baking as a meditative act (even though it pretty much already acts as one for me). We ate the pretzels as part of lunch (quite yummy, if I do say so myself), and during the closing Eucharist. Wabam. 

We also had a great session on Praying in Color. I love this type of prayer, so I had a lot of fun with it. It really was a great day :-)

Other fun things that happened this week:

I was a lector for Lessons and Carols, and Dr. Warren Smith (our Church History professor who I LOVE) was presiding, so I got to officially introduce myself. He knew where I sat in class and everything (which is impressive considering there are like 160 people in that class). Made me smile. :-) 

My classes are officially done! I still have finals, so I will still be quite busy the next two weeks, but it will be nice to just be able to focus on studying. This past week I had a big Hebrew exam, and I still have a translation final for that class. I have a pastoral context paper and a big ol' final exam for Church History. I have a final exam for Old Testament, and I have a 20-page final paper for Episcopal Polity (due the same day as the CH final). It's going to be a fun week. I'm happy I had today to retreat and rejuvenate. 

Last night I went to see (and hear) Handel's Messiah performed at Duke Chapel by the Duke Choir. It. Was. Amazing. I've never sat through the entirety of the Messiah, but it was just incredible. They brought in legitimate soloists- I was just expecting some seniors from Duke to be singing the solos, but nope! Real professionals who were spot on. The soprano- sigh- she had a beautiful voice, and the best part was that you could tell she believed everything she was singing. I realized I've sung a lot of music from the Messiah- I think four of the choral pieces- with various church choirs. My favorite is still the Hallelujah chorus :-)  Last night was also great because I hung out with a different group of people than I normally do. One person even said to me "Christa, I'm so happy you're here. I've wanted to be friends with you but I didn't know how!" That made my night. 

So between the Messiah and the retreat today, I think I'm ready for the wonderful season of Advent to begin tomorrow. 


And now, for your enjoyment: my polity presentation that I did with Brad a couple of weeks ago finally made it on YouTube. Yes, I still continue to make a fool of myself, even at seminary. Love life. 

Peace, peace, and more peace, 
Christa