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 nine 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.

I was nearing the end of a long day of walking labyrinths in southeastern New York State. The sun was getting low, and I was tired. I drove to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie. This labyrinth is a seven-circuit classical path, with a grass path and inlaid brick walls. However, this was the second grass-and-brick labyrinth of the day  where the grass had grown and the leaves had fallen, and the second that was nearly impossible to see.

Probably due to my exhaustion, I hadn’t thought of a question when I arrived there. So I stared at the partially invisible path before me, and decided just to ask, God, is there anything you want to add to my journey today?

I started to get lost in the labyrinth again, but it wasn’t as bad as the other one today. Only the back half of the labyrinth was significantly invisible, so I was able to muddle my way to the center. But I was tired. It was late. The sun was sinking. I started to get judgy about the people who tended this labyrinth. In the center I saw what looked like the broken head of a Buddha figure, and somehow that made me feel even more judgy.

But then on the way out, I heard a voice, repeating two lines over and over:

I am with you wherever you are.
I walk with you wherever you go.

Over and over again. There was no need to be judgmental. There was no need to worry about parts of a labyrinth being hard to see. All that was needed was to hear and accept this grace:

I am with you wherever you are.
I walk with you wherever you go.

Amen. That was nine labyrinths today. Not too bad. God’s been with me the whole time. Time to get to my hotel and relax.