Learning to walk in the darkness...

This week, while on retreat, I happened to be out after dark wandering the Land, sitting with a prayer.  I received an inner invitation to walk the Labyrinth.  The Labyrinth is a stone outdoor Labyrinth in the shadow of Grandmother Tree — a beautiful ancient weeping Beech tree. The night was clear.  I could see all the stars. The Moon was a sliver of a Moon, a few days after New Moon — gorgeous.

I walked over to the Labyrinth and stepped onto the path.  Two steps in I realized that I could not tell which was the path I should be on.  This has never happened to me.  The Labyrinth is ONE path that twists and turns until you get to the Center.  The problem was that in the darkness I could not differentiate between the twists and turns.  I could only see the shapes of the stones changing to show me a curve was coming up.

As I walked on, I had to stay completely present in the moment.  I could not think one step ahead.  I could not think one step behind.  If I did, I lost the path.  Total presence was necessary.

This is a small Labyrinth.  During the day the turns feel so close together.  In the dark they feel so far apart.  At one point, during one section, I began to wonder if I had missed the turn.  I stopped and looked back.  I had not.  A few steps ahead was the turn.  Wow, darkness obscures distance!

As i walked, I learned to discern the twists by the shapes of the stones.  I learned to trust my intuition, my inner guidance.  I learned to have faith that I was on the right path.  I learned to have confidence in myself with each step I took in the darkness.

Yet, what sweet joy it was to arrive at the Center!  I stood and breathed and realized one thing:  I just learned to walk in darkness!!

The walk back out from the Center was so different.  I noticed the pine branches, pine needles, Deer droppings, pine cones that were scattered on the Labyrinth.  I had missed them when I walked inward.  I had missed my companions as I concentrated so hard on the path before me.  Now I saw them and I rejoiced that they were present with mien my darkness.

This moment, this walk; it has changed me; transformed me; cracked me wide open in ways I am still waking to.  That is what darkness does.  It strips us of anything that is not essential and leaves us in the arms of the Sacred!