The beginning of the 21st century gives us the opportunity to celebrate, among other things, the diverse traditions that have been a part of the history of our faith.

The labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in religious traditions in various forms all over the world as far back as 4000 years ago. The design of the labyrinth is based on principles of, what Keith Critchlow from Magdalen College in Oxford calls, sacred geometry, with everything in proportion and balance to itself, a pattern found over and over again both in nature and in art throughout the centuries.

Christians in the Middle Ages often made a vow that, in their lifetimes, they would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But the Crusades, along with other conflicts in Europe and Palestine, made that dangerous and expensive. The labyrinth became a central symbol of pilgrimage throughout this time. The church encouraged pilgrims to travel to one of seven European cathedrals, where they could walk a labyrinth, reach its center - symbolically, the new Jerusalem - and by this journey fulfill their desire as Christians to retrace their sacred history.

The most commonly known labyrinth is the only one of the seven medieval labyrinths that survives to this day: the labyrinth in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France. The winding path of the classical labyrinth imbedded in the floor of Chartres Cathedral extends about one third of a mile in eleven circles, and takes about twenty minutes to walk at a leisurely and prayerful pace.

Although at first appearance it looks like a maze, a labyrinth is not a maze. Where a maze is meant to confuse and present obstacles, a labyrinth, usually in the form of a circle, has a purposeful path, moves from the outer edge of the circle, and follows a pattern of winding turns, bringing the walker to the center, and then back out again. A maze often has many paths, and causes disorientation. The labyrinth has only one path, and is a symbol of our journey through life. The path is circular, the universal symbol for wholeness and oneness.

Because of its universal nature, the labyrinth offers a form of meditation to people of all faiths, cultures and traditions. Walking the labyrinth is a form of prayer that engages our whole person. When walking the sacred path, we are invited to let go of the books and words and experts on whom we so often depend for answers to life's deepest questions, and to trust the wisdom that is within. As we enter the path, a container of our unique journey, we bring all that we are to the Center, to God.