Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Teach me your way, O God, that I may walk in your truth…” Psalm 86:11
Eight years ago, we planned to have an Ash Wednesday Labyrinth Walk. It fit our Lenten theme of “Journey” perfectly. On the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we had arranged for a labyrinth specialist to come help us create a labyrinth, using painters’ tape, on the floor of our then-new Education Building Fellowship Hall.
That Saturday night I got a frantic call from one of our Trustees. A sprinkler pipe had burst in the Education Building. Water was pouring everywhere. There would be no labyrinth-creating that Sunday; in fact, it took the entire season of Lent to repair all the damage to the building.
We regrouped, moved church school and coffee hour down to Edwards Hall, and rethought how we would experience “journey” during Lent. It was frustrating on many levels—insurance hassles, waterlogged Sunday School supplies, and the disappointment of careful plans that had to be scrapped.
Out of that disappointment, though, conversations emerged about the possibility of an outdoor labyrinth, which would be available at all times for anyone to come and walk. That spring, our labyrinth specialist did come, this time to lay out a labyrinth on the grass beside the sanctuary. That summer, we had a joyous dedication service, with saxophone music, dance, and rocks from sacred places.
Once it was built, we began talking about how to spread the word about our new labyrinth. Those conversations spurred the idea for Day of Spirit. Day of Spirit, in turn, laid the groundwork for the development of Open Spirit: A Place of Hope, Health & Harmony.
Today, as we prepare for our Ash Wednesday Labyrinth Walk, this time in Edwards Hall, I am reminded of the sacred conversations that took place after our first, aborted, Ash Wednesday walk. The conversations were sacred because we were doing our best to listen for the voice of God in the midst of disappointment. What we heard led us toward possibilities we could never before have imagined.
Open us, God, to hear your voice in times of disappointment. Open us to sacred conversations that lead to new life. Amen.
–Debbie Clark