From the past : Xmas 1999

WOW! As I reflect on the past year and contemplate the task of summing it up into something intelligible I am at a loss for words. Has anyone else had a year like that? Is this what they call a mid-life crisis? The journey has been an inner one, and it has meant nothing less than stripping away everything I ever believed, and re-creating my relationship to the Universe. I’m not done yet. Indeed, I feel like a newly emerged butterfly, aware that I no longer fit inside the cocoon, but not yet able to fly and therefore rather vulnerable.

I had a very remarkable dream about two months ago. I was on a skydiving adventure, examining a map of the area I was about to plunge into and trying to figure out where to land. The map was a Celtic knot, and I realized that no matter where I came down I would be on or near the Path. It wasn’t possible to get lost. That was something of a revelation for me.

My church has a new labyrinth which will be dedicated on New Year’s Eve. That is where I will be to welcome the turning of a new century. Like the Celtic knot, it seems an appropriate symbol for the journey I have been on --- a symbol that relates to wholeness, to going within to your own center and Source and back out again into the world with a deeper understanding of who you are.

The circular design looks like a maze, but there are no wrong turns or dead ends. The path only goes forward. It is the journey which is important, not the destination. Although it may seem to be a singular journey, there is unity in knowing everyone else is on the same path. Sometimes there is even someone walking beside you for a time. But wherever they go, you are part of everyone else’s experience, just as they are part of yours.

I am tempted to bring soap bubbles to the labyrinth on New Year’s Eve. That should enliven everyone’s experience don’t you think? What better way for this butterfly to begin her flight, spreading joy and rainbows on the path. It’s not a new path, but each moment on it is new. It has been a magical, wondrous journey despite the twists and turns of the past year. So again I say WOW! My hope for each of you is that your maze will also become amazement.

Rejoice, rejoice, take heart in the night,
though cold the winter and cheerless,
the rising sun shall crown you with light,
be strong and loving and fearless;
Love be our song and love our prayer,
and love, our endless story,
may God fill every day we share,
and bring us at last into glory. (Marty Haugen)

Peace, love and blessings to you all.