LABYRINTH

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INVITATION TO THE LABYRINTH

Let the heartsick, let the empty, let the searching come.

Let the hopeless, let the blissful, let the forsaken come.

When the days unspool one dark reel after another, come.

When sorrow haunts the corners of the house, when the hours stack like dirty plates, when solitude becomes loneliness, come to the labyrinth.

Do not wait, in joy or in misery for God to descend . Do not wait to be found.

Bring the heavy freight of your life here and set it down. Lay aside your regret.

Step to the gate, beloved, place your feet on the path. In the kaleidoscope, inside the mandala, on the trails that lead to the heart of the Rose, all are welcome.

Brother, sister, grandmother, friend, all ages, all faith and all people can walk the path together, all can allow the noise of the world to recede.

There is not right way or wrong. Walk in prayer, walk in silence, dance , skip or sing. Walk inside yourself. 

Come to the Mystery, come to the Holy Spirit, the greening power of God, when the soul blossoms and dreams burst into full flower.

Let the fearful, let the angry, let the abandoned come.

Let the fulfilled, let the faithless, let the merciful come.

When good fortune tastes of bitterness, when selfhatred erupts, when there is no comfort, come to the labyrinth.

Come to remember yourself. Come and move toward the light.

Come in pain, in confusion, come in reverence and celebration.

Be welcome and be healed.

Katherine Whitcomb

Composed for the All Saints' Community Labyrinth Dedication

Summer Solstice,  June 21,  1999