labyrinth

The Practice of Walking in Circles

The Practice of Walking in Circles

Six months in a global pandemic can mess you up. Or maybe it’s just me. (Please tell me it’s not just me.) Most days, I feel like I’m going around in circles. Which day is it? What am I doing again? The days run together, and I feel lost and disconnected and disoriented. My emotions run in circles, too. Grief, then anxious, then sad, then happy and content break in for a bit. Then grief again, and the cycle repeats. It’s like a very emotional Groundhog’s Day.

And then finally, because it still takes so much longer than it should, I remember. I remember to get out of my house and out of my head. I return to the prayer labyrinth by the river. This place is familiar, sacred space to me. On the grounds of this Jesuit spiritual center, I have a history of holy moments with God.

Here I begin to walk in a new circle.