“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (35/40), Chartres finger labyrinth at home, Ebenezer:
I have been doing several Lenten studies this year. One is Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie‘s “Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection.”
Within the reading entitled “Bottling Magic,” I found this.
“A GOOD ENOUGH STEP
Some seasons, the moments of God’s presence are evident… and other times God seems far off. The ancient Israelites needed reminders of God’s presence for when they had forgotten. So, the prophet Samuel took a stone and marked the memory of God’s help for all of Israel to remember. He called it an Ebenezer. (You can read about this in 1 Samuel 7:12.)
As an act of remembering, make your own Ebenezer. Find a stone outside. Think of a moment you last sensed the transcendence of God. Using a permanent marker, write one word on the rock that helps you remember this moment of magic. Place the stone somewhere (inside or out) that will help you remember every time you see it.
No, we can’t bottle these moments, but we can be changed by them.”
On my last walk at Mrs Wayt’s labyrinth on her farm near Cumming GA and before she died, I picked up one of her stones that formed her labyrinth. It was my intent to use it as a seed to center my own labyrinth. Now I know this stone is called an Ebenezer.
Here is the passage from 1 Samuel:
12 Then Samuel (A)took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name [a]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
I never knew that … and now I will have to research the connection to Ebenezer Scrooge.
If I remember correctly Mrs. Wayt’s labyrinth is to scale the labyrinth at Chartres. I’ll use my homemade Chartres finger labyrinth tonight. And sit with my Ebenezer in hand as I walk.
And just yesterday, Marty called. Marty’s voice is always joyful. I can’t wait to see her this summer. It will be joyful and comforting. She is a rock of comfort in my life.
So tonight I am remembering walks and talks, stones of comfort, bottling magic.
The last picture is of the Blessing from the “Bottling Magic”chapter.
… “The quality time with a friend that we can’t duplicate. It is a magic suffused with delight and goodness and beauty and joy. And we know it was You, oh God.”
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (32/40), Sardis Baptist Church – Charlotte NC:
I made a quick run to the grocery store, and Sardis Baptist is on my route. For quite a long time, I did not particularly like this labyrinth, but I have grown very, very fond of it in recent years.
This year, all of the flowers are very subdued. I can’t quite figure that out. And it is not just here. But all over Charlotte. The daffodils seem to be a paler yellow, Lenten roses are paler than normal, and the azaleas are just not as vibrant. Today, for the first time, I see some blooms on the Mountain Laurel … or is it Rhododendrum? They are not open, but I can see them. I will have to wait until they open up to see which it is. There were also a few of the small purple flowers here. According to the Picture This App, it is Annual Honesty.
I brought Albert with me. And I brought his tether. I put him on the side of the labyrinth. For some reason, he turned his back to me. I don’t know if he was mad or if it was just per chance that he saw something out in the distance that he wanted to watch.
When I approached the labyrinth, I noticed a new “thing“. It was a wooden box that looked like a large birdhouse. And in it was an old fashioned red phone “handset”. On the side of the box was a note that said, “The Phone to Forever … This phone to forever is for all the important calls you have wanted to make. Let your heart reach across space and time. You have the number.”
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (34/40), Sardis Baptist Church – Charlotte NC:
I made a quick run to the grocery store, and Sardis Baptist is on my route. For quite a long time, I did not particularly like this labyrinth, but I have grown very, very fond of it in recent years.
This year, all of the flowers are very subdued. I can’t quite figure that out. And it is not just here. But all over Charlotte. The daffodils seem to be a paler yellow, Lenten roses are paler than normal, and the azaleas are just not as vibrant. Today, for the first time, I see some blooms on the Mountain Laurel … or is it Rhododendrum? They are not open, but I can see them. I will have to wait until they open up to see which it is. There were also a few of the small purple flowers here. According to the Picture This App, it is Annual Honesty.
I brought Albert with me. And I brought his tether. I put him on the side of the labyrinth. For some reason, he turned his back to me. I don’t know if he was mad or if it was just per chance that he saw something out in the distance that he wanted to watch.
When I approached the labyrinth, I noticed a new “thing“. It was a wooden box that looked like a large birdhouse. And in it was an old fashioned red phone “handset”. On the side of the box was a note that said, “The Phone to Forever … This phone to forever is for all the important calls you have wanted to make. Let your heart reach across space and time. You have the number.”
Yesterday, I had a great conversation with a very dear friend about Madeline L’Engle and her “A Wrinkle in Time” and Brené Brown’s new book “Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience.”
We were discussing language and the importance of language to the human endeavor as well as L’Engle’s concept of God, including time.
Tonight, I researched more on L’Engle and I also looked into the concept of sacred geometry as it relates to labyrinths. So my walk this evening, was not a physical walk, or even a finger walk, but a walk through ideas, and I let my mind wander through things that I have often contemplated since I was a little girl.
I found this very interesting in an article about L’Engle:
“She was seeking a light in the dark: “Not just to learn the various theories of the creation of the universe, the theories of relativity, of quantum [mechanics], but because in the writing of Sir James Jeans, of Einstein, Planck, I got a vision of a universe in which I could believe in God.” In the work of scientists and mathematicians, she continued, she found “a reverence for the beauty and pattern of the universe, for the mystery of the heavenly laws which argued much more convincingly to me of a loving creator than did the German theologians.” Driving through the Painted Desert in Arizona—an environment “as much out of this world as any of the planets” she later imagined in her fiction—she turned to the children and announced that she was going to write a new novel about three characters whose names had just come to her: Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. (L’Engle deliberately left off the period after the “Mrs” in their names, to emphasize that they were “extra-special as well as extra-terrestrial.”)”
“Time, for L’Engle, is accordion- pleated. She elaborated, “When you bring a sheet off the line, you can’t handle it until it’s folded, and in a sense, I think, the universe can’t exist until it’s folded—or it’s a story without a book.” But, I asked, is there a difference between fiction and nonfiction? “Not much,” she said, shrugging. It was a long shrug, the wishbone of her shoulders pulled up almost to her ears. “Because there’s really no such thing as nonfiction. When people read your books, they think they know everything, but they don’t. Writing is like a fairy tale. It happens elsewhere.” She paused. “I had a friend, who died. She thought she could control everything. See? The story creeps up whether we want it to or not.” Source: Madeleine L’Engle’s Inventions | The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/04/12/the-storyteller-cynthia-zarin?source=search_google_dsa_paid&gclid=CjwKCAjw0a-SBhBkEiwApljU0j9WgxEfZJjujecIZ4GzDDJ8IH7UP50F9MIqbAEw5SXXMxxKQjeCYRoCcKwQAvD_BwE
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (32/40), Myers Park Baptist Church – Charlotte NC:
The sky was strange, not really ominous, but very heavily overcast. Definitely not Carolina blue. I hope that’s not an omen.
As I started to walk, it was 6 PM and the clock at Queens College was shouting the time. #DoesAnyoneReallyKnowWhatTimeItIs
I think I mentioned recently that the early flowering trees have passed and now the snowballs and the dogwoods are coming out full force. And quite a few azaleas.
Whatever it is, I was definitely experiencing allergies. That reminds me of last year when after I got my second Covid vaccine, I had allergy problems for three months. It is usually only two weeks for me. When I went for my annual physical in late June, my doctor said that it was actually not an unusual response to the Covid vaccine. The vaccine had stimulated my immune response and so I was over responding to all of the allergens. She advised that I take Zyrtec for the rest of the summer… I did and it solved all the problem. I must get the Zyrtec out again.
I’ve had a long day and it’s been a bit tough on me. I kind of hit my breaking point late this afternoon while I was attending a Bible study offered by a friend that I met when I was a freshman in college. After the Bible study, I sought out a 15 minute meditation… This is what I found… 15 Minute Guided Meditation To Find Peace In Uncertain Times, https://youtu.be/W19PdslW7iw.
I walked the labyrinth while she walked from her home nearby.
I so enjoyed our walk with her beautiful 11 month old pup Salem. We walked in the nearby neighborhood.
I loved the end of the conversation. We discussed Brene Brown, Madeleine L’Engle and A Wrinkle in Time, thin places, loss of language during war/conflict … “How we feel shapes our lives, but most of us have limited language to describe what we’re feeling. This limitation is the focus of Brené Brown’s new book, “Atlas of The Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and The Language of Human Experience.” …
“Language shows us that naming an experience doesn’t give the experience more power, it gives us the power of understanding and meaning.”
Brené Brown, ATLAS OF THE HEART
Once again I felt my time on the labyrinth and my time with a listening friend was transformative.
It’s amazing what a little bit of time can do to change my perspective.
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (31/40), Finger Labyrinth Walk @ Home-Charlotte NC:
After 575 miles in the car yesterday, I picked up my finger labyrinth and walked. As I walked, I was reminded of this quote, a favorite Rohr quote. So I searched it out.
It is one that I have posted many times. It’s very interesting that during Lent which is basically retracing a path of suffering for 40 days leads us to a path of wonder and awe.
“Through I might be oversimplifying, but I think there are basically two paths that allow people to have a genuinely new experience: the path of wonder and the path of suffering. When you allow yourself to be led into awe and wonder, when you find yourself in an aha! moment and you savor it consciously (remember that joy and happiness take a minimum of fifteen conscious seconds to imprint on your neurons), then you can have a genuinely new experience; otherwise, you will fit everything back into your old paradigm, and it won’t really be an experience at all. It will at best be a passing diversion, a momentary distraction from your common “cruise control” of thoughts and feelings. That’s all. Awe and wonder are terms that are often correlative with mystery. All fundamentalist religion is terribly uncomfortable with mystery;”
SOURCE: “The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation” by Richard Rohr
So loved being at this day with Jeanne and Anne and their families. I think we had a nice showing of our Westminster class. Beautiful day to celebrate a beautiful lady.
Jane Symmes Obituary (1926 – 2021) – Madison, GA – Atlanta Journal-Constitution https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/atlanta/name/jane-symmes-obituary?id=22130628 Jane Campbell Symmes died peacefully at her home, Cedar Lane Farm, in Madison, Georgia, on August 20, 2021, at the age of 94. She was the daughter of Mary Louise Heinking Campbell and George Wade Campbell of Atlanta and was predeceased by her husband, John Cleves Symmes. Throughout her long and active life, Jane worked tirelessly to enrich our cultural lives and beautify the landscapes around us. She was a dedicated environmentalist, a passionate student of history, and a leader in civic engagement. Born and raised in Ansley Park, in Atlanta, she attended Washington Seminary, St. Mary’s School in Raleigh, NC, and graduated from Agnes Scott College with a BA in Art History. She was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and served in the Junior League of Atlanta. She met her future husband, John Symmes, in 1955 while she was buying plants at his nursery. Jane and John co-founded, owned, and operated a commercial landscape contracting firm, Symmes Nursery in Atlanta. In 1966, they set off on a mission to grow their own distinctive trees and shrubs and established a wholesale nursery on an old farm in Madison, GA. They reclaimed the land and painstakingly restored a pure example of an 1830’s “Plantation Plain-Style” house and gardens, which was featured in numerous publications, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After her husband’s death, Jane continued the nursery in Madison called Cedar Lane Farm for more than 25 years. She was an early champion of native plants, and her catalog was one of the first to identify them and advocate for their ecological benefits and aesthetic qualities. She also developed a unique catalog of historical plants that included cultivars that she selected and introduced to the nursery trade. Among the plants she named were Trachelospermum jasminoides ‘Madison,’ Lonicera sempervirens ‘Cedar Lane’ and Calycanthus floridus ‘Athens,’ and Magnolia grandiflora ‘Symmes Select.’ These distinctive plants can be found in landscapes nationwide, and she generously made them available to a wide range of civic projects that beautified her community. Jane was one of a group of visionary Madisonians who transformed the Madison Graded School, a stately 1895 Romanesque Revival building on main street, into the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, a widely acclaimed regional visual and performing arts center. With Lisa Hammett, she co-authored Madison, Georgia: An Architectural Guide and was also a founding board member of the Madison-Morgan Conservancy working to preserve open space and the rural character of Morgan County. She was involved in the restoration and creation of gardens at the Tullie Smith House at the Atlanta History Center, and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation honored her for her years of restoration work. Named a “Gardening Great” by the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University, she also received the Balentine Horticulture Award from the Southern Flower Show, and the Award for Commercial Horticulture from the American Horticultural Society. Jane was also named an Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America and a founding board member of the Southern Garden History Society, who paid tribute to her “exceptional service and outstanding contributions to its mission.” As a founding member of the Decorative Arts Advisory Committee of The Georgia Museum of Art, she was the first recipient and namesake of the Jane Symmes Spirit Award, honoring dedication to the decorative arts. Jane loved baseball, golf, horses and was never without a dog as a constant companion. She was an avid traveler but liked nothing better than a lively gathering of her family and friends around the dining room table at Cedar Lane. Vibrant, engaged, always well-read, and impeccably dressed, Jane loved people from all walks of life and possessed an abiding curiosity about their lives. She was an endlessly engaging companion and as good a listener as she was a storyteller. Jane was also legendary for her generosity — allowing non-profit institutions to use her property for numerous functions and historic tours. Throughout her life’s work, she sought to preserve our history — our architecture, landscapes, and culture. In the end, Jane believed that the beauty and vitality of our past were best expressed by a celebration of our common heritage in the present. Whether championing adaptive use of an old building or saving an antique rose, her passionate determination to keep history dynamic and meaningful was Jane’s greatest gift of all. She is survived by her daughter, Jeanne Symmes Reid, her husband Frank Hunter Reid, grandson Alexander Symmes Reid of Greenville, South Carolina, her daughter Anne Cleves Symmes, her husband Stephen Goodhue Ives and granddaughter Campbell Symmes Ives of Garrison, New York, her stepdaughters Carol Symmes Mitchell of Roswell, Georgia and Holly Symmes Montford of Savannah, Georgia and their families. A graveside service will be held at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. Due to Covid restrictions, the service is for family only. A gathering to celebrate Jane’s life will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to The Madison-Morgan Conservancy, The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center and the Episcopal Church of the Advent.
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (30/40), Ancient Labyrinths • Video Walk-Through – Chartres:
I spent the day in the car … I had hoped to find a new labyrinth on my day trip to Atlanta and Madison, but in the end I just listened and watched (out of the corner of my eye) this lovely video. Ancient Labyrinths • Video Walk-Through https://youtu.be/OtguyeXFx4Q
And here is the description attached to the YouTube video.
Description
Ancient Labyrinths Video Walk-Through Werner Elmker 12,909 views Sep 4, 2015
Ancient Labyrinths Video Walk-Through
This video serves three purposes:
To bring attention to the ancient tradition of walking a Labyrinth.
To enable people without regular access to a Labyrinth to ‘walk’ the Labyrinth by watching this video, which depicts a complete walk through the Labyrinth pattern of the Chartres Cathedral. The video can also be used by people with disabilities. In addition to this video, you can also walk a Labyrinth online: http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/ flash/labyrinth.htm
To recognize the efforts of the Creative Edge company, which has created true works of art labyrinths utilizing waterjet technology on materials like granite, concrete pavers, marble, terrazzo, rubber, carpet, and vinyl. creativeedgemastershop.com
Video produced by Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio. elmker.com
About the Labyrinth: In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it. In colloquial English, labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze, but many contemporary scholars observe a distinction between the two: maze refers to a complex branching (multicursal) puzzle with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal) labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not difficult to navigate.
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, which has inspired a revival in labyrinth building.
Countless video games depict mazes and labyrinths. On bobsled, luge, and skeleton tracks, a labyrinth is where there are three to four curves in succession without a straight line in between any of the turns.
Prehistoric labyrinths are believed to have served as traps for malevolent spirits or as defined paths for ritual dances. In medieval times, the labyrinth symbolized a hard path to God with a clearly defined center (God) and one entrance (birth). One can think of labyrinths as symbolic of pilgrimage; people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment. Many people could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel.
Many newly made labyrinths exist today, in churches and parks. Modern mystics use labyrinths to help them achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind. The Labyrinth Society provides a locator for modern labyrinths all over the world • labyrinthsociety.org
Labyrinths have on various occasions been used in Christian tradition as a part of worship. The earliest known example is from a fourth-century pavement at the Basilica of St Reparatus, at Orleansville, Algeria, with the words “Sancta Eclesia” at the centre, though it is unclear how it might have been used in worship.
In medieval times, labyrinths began to appear on church walls and floors around 1000 C.E. The most famous medieval labyrinth, with great influence on later practice, was created in Chartres Cathedral. The purpose of the labyrinths is not clear, though there are surviving descriptions of French clerics performing a ritual Easter dance along the path on Easter Sunday. Some books suggest that mazes on cathedral floors originated in the medieval period as alternatives to pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but the earliest attested use of the phrase “chemin de Jerusalem” (path to Jerusalem) dates to the late 18th century when it was used to describe mazes at Reims and Saint-Omer. The accompanying ritual, depicted in Romantic illustrations as involving pilgrims following the maze on their knees while praying, may have been practiced at Chartres during the 17th century. The use of labyrinths has recently been revived in some contexts of Christian worship. For example, a labyrinth was set up on the floor of St Paul’s Cathedral for a week in March 2000.
And I made it home for the UNC- Duke final four game …
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (29/40), Avondale Presbyterian Church – Charlotte NC:
“Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised or a little mistaken.” — Jane Austen (Emma)
There was a perfect blue sky… I think this one is Carolina blue, not deep blue like Duke. So I’ll throw in my hat for UNC tomorrow. It was also very windy and the chimes were singing.
I stood a few minutes and looked around. In the last two days there has been significant greening out of the trees. The red maples were fully leafed out, too.
Oh, I just got my haircut by a new stylist. Her name was Robin and she did an excellent job. But change is hard. I have had the same hairstylist for almost 32 years. Gary had had a series of strokes several years ago, but I hoped against hope that he would come back. He died in February. I just realized that I routinely spent significant time with Gary, more so than any other person, outside of my family and friends, in the last 30 years. I will miss Gary. Not only did he keep my hair up-to-date, he kept me in the know on movies, musical theater, travel, including cruising, dyi decorating, and conservative politics, which seemed an unusual mix. He even loaned me his beach condo at Ocean Isle one year when I was in a crunch.
Today was one of those days where the labyrinth was in half shade and half darkness. There was a cool breeze. When the wind blew, it was very cool. It was 64° as I walked. This is my favorite temperature.
The lawn in the garden had been recently mowed, but the landscapers did not mow the labyrinth. I like it when the grass is a little longer and there are a few weeds. Today the weeds were in bloom.
I have had some tough conversations lately. Some of them have been with myself. So today, I pondered: Am I a person of faith? And I concluded that I am a person of faith, but I can’t put boundaries around it. I can walk within my denomination, Presbyterian, most comfortably, but I can accept a broader walk within the boundaries of all of the Christian denominations. And in reality, I think I could find myself within most faith traditions or spiritual traditions. I have grown to love the Jewish foundation of the Christian faith. Bottom line is, I believe in God who embodies LOVE, and I’m must claim it. Claiming is believing, and I am claiming.
I’m looking for that fully disclosed, not disguised and not mistaken, “complete truth” …
“Solvitur Ambulando” – It is solved by walking, 2022 Labyrinth Walks, 2022 Lenten Labyrinth Walks (28/40), Avondale Presbyterian Church – Charlotte NC:
I had a delightful walk and talk with my son Jack. Beautiful day, wonderful conversation. Alaska’s good. He’s good. All good.
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