For at least twenty years, I have enjoyed walking labyrinths. Labyrinths are maze-like structures that have been used as spiritual tools for centuries. For the past seven years, I’ve been walking labyrinths throughout the northeastern United States, and blogging about them. To learn more about labyrinths, check out this page at the Labyrinth Society. To find labyrinths near you, try the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator.

A few weeks ago, I went on a journey to walk a bunch of labyrinths in the Delaware Valley. I’ve already written about the first six labyrinths I walked that day. Today’s post focuses on the final labyrinth, a tiny gem at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Lansdale, Pa. By this point in the day, I was ready to be done. I wasn’t exhausted or tired, but I felt like I’d received as much spiritual nourishment as I was going to. The day felt complete. But this labyrinth was just a mile from the last one I walked, so I decided to try to come up with one more question.

This was possibly the smallest labyrinth I’ve ever walked, just two circuits! The path was crushed stone, with wide walls of stones surrounding various ornamental plants. I decided that my question for this walk would be, What else can I learn today?

The walk was so quick — maybe a minute in, and a minute out. But in that short walk, I received two quick answers to my question. I heard a voice say happily, “Whatever you want to!” And I also heard another voice saying, “This is enough for today. Time to head back home.”

Such simple answers to such a simple question, walking such a simple (yet beautiful) labyrinth. By this time in the day, I had wrestled with questions about my identity, about my past and my future, about what I am called to do. This was a cleansing coda to it all. Like the final blessing at the end of a mass.

And I did feel blessed. I felt blessed by all the good internal spiritual work I’d done so far that day. And I felt blessed by the labyrinths I’d walked, and by the people who had so selflessly created them and opened them to the public. I felt blessed by the ability I’ve been given, the ability to have a meaningful experience every time I walk a labyrinth. What a gift that is.

I went home grateful and energized.