Prayer Column 4: Prayer Labyrinths

Prayer Column 4:  Prayer Labyrinths

In my last column, I said that I would write more about one of the types of prayer discusses in William Tenny-Brittian's Prayer for People Who Can't Sit Still.  I was unsure of which type to write about until I went to JT's first flag football game.  To get to the field, we turned on Ariadne Trail, passed Theseus Ct., and caught sight of Minotaur Way.  Although I'm skeptical of "signs," I was willing to take this as inspiration for my writing and decided to write about prayer labyrinths.  

The history of the labyrinth goes back at least as far as Greek mythology, which explains that King Minos' labyrinth was built as a prison for the Minotaur.  It was deemed necessary to imprison the Minotaur because he was half man and half bull (through no fault of his own, by the way).  The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus, with some technical assistance from Ariadne.  She had the insight that if Theseus laid a piece of thread behind him as he went into the labyrinth, he would be able to find his way out again (and he couldn't think of that himself?).  

A number of European cathedrals have prayer labyrinths embedded into their floors, most notably including Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral.  They differ from the Minos' labyrinth in that they have only one path, so it's impossible to get lost.  The medieval church used these labyrinthgs as contemplative aids and as a substitute for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for those who could not make the actual journey to the Holy Land.  

Labyrinths fell out of use when the pilgrimage requirement was no longer emphasized.  Much later, they also came to be associated with the occult.  However, many Christian denominations are taking a fresh look at the practices of prayer walking in general and the prayer labyrinth in particular.  The Wikipedia article on labyrinths includes the following quote, attributed to "a Catholic writer":

The labyrinth is a universal symbol for the world, with its complications and difficulties, which we experience on our journey through life. The entry to the labyrinth is birth; the center is death and eternal life. In Christian terms, the thread that leads us through life is divine grace. Like any pilgrimage, the labyrinth represents the inner pilgrimage we are called to make to take us to the center of our being. In some Christian circles today the labyrinth continues to be used as an instrument to facilitate meditation, prayer, personal reflection, etc.

As I mentioned in an earlier column, the Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Dayton has a prayer labyrinth that is open to the public once a month.  Google can also point you to a "labyrinth locator."