A LABYRINTH FOR RING LAKE RANCH: A LABOR OF MANY HANDS

 

Journeyers, a publication of Columbia Theological Seminary fostering Christian spirituality, defines the labyrinth as "prayer in motion." It also says: "A labyrinth is an ancient prayer practice whereby individuals are invited into contemplative prayer by following a pathway."

There are many pathways already at Ring Lake Ranch, many places to pray. In the unstructured beauty of the wilderness, there appears to be no need for structure, for a defined pathway, laid out by human hands.

And yet, in one week, indeed in one afternoon, on the bank of Trail Lake, clearly visible from the Dining Room above it, a labyrinth appeared.

Elyn Aviva and Gary While came form Boulder, Colorado, to lead the labyrinth seminar. They were Godsends. Literally. Substitutes, filling in for someone else, whom God sent at the right time and place, to bring a group together and build a labyrinth in the wilderness.

The plan was to use surveyor's flags, and lay out the design for the labyrinth. Then a string would connect the flags, and then stones, rocks, would be place on the string, to form a permanent pathway of prayer.

Two truckloads of rocks, cleared from trails, pathways on the Ranch, formed a large pile of raw materials as we gathered in the afternoon sunshine by the lake. As Gary drove steel rods into the earth, and attached his string to form the radius of the first circle, we bent like stoop laborers in rice paddies, planting flags in the right places. The Wyoming wind rippled and snapped the flags, and in less time than could be believed, a labyrinth in pink/orange stood on the shore. Then string, connecting, shaping, and defining. Then rocks to cover string. The idea was, we'd weight the string down so that it wouldn't blow away, and then, over the course of the week, over the course of the summer, the labyrinth would be completed.

The first stone was already in place. A large rock, a small boulder, it covered the home of a ground squirrel, and we created the labyrinth around it so that it would not have to be moved. It stands out from the other stones in the circles, a reminder that the first stone was placed by an invisible hand, indeed by the Creator's hand, and we built around it.

As the afternoon stretched on, we carried hands full of stones, armloads, relays. Folks passing by, or stopping to watch the progress would place a few and be on heir way. Someone said it was as though invisible hands were helping, for by Sharing time, the Ring Lake Labyrinth was complete. A seven circle labyrinth at seven thousand five hundred feet.

To walk the labyrinth is to experience prayer in the wilderness in a new way. To pause on each lap, and gaze at the mountains, to lift up one's eyes, adds meaning. The mountains bless the labyrinth, and the labyrinth blesses the mountains. The sky, the water, the whole wilderness, is blessed by each part, and as one circles and spirals inward, one's spirit reaches outward, until the labyrinth becomes a part of the wilderness, and the wilderness a part of the labyrinth.

There is a standard by which all things done at Ring Lake Ranch must be judged. If you've ever been there, you know what it is. "What would Maggie think?" All agreed Maggie would love the labyrinth.

Not too far from our circles of stones, which already look as though they have been there for ages, the petroglyphs, the drawings and symbols etched into the rocks may be seen. The labyrinth may not last as long as the petroglyphs, but the stones placed on the shore remind us of the labor of many hands, devoted to a labor of love of the wilderness, and prayer to the Creator.

~ Ted Land, Arcadia,Florida