Mietzke's Holden Adventure

I was struck the other Day while walking to the labyrinth that at one point this winter the whole thing was covered with snow. Martin Wells was able to walk to the entrance and just started walking it from memory. He had a heart relationship with that walk that enabled him to find the path and create it new again for himself and others. I moved up to Holden after this had happened and there were a group of people who made an effort to stomp the labyrinth down after each big snowfall so it was available all through the winter. As the snows have started to melt and spring has been in the air we quit checking on it. Taking for granted that it would just be there.
We got a foot of snow on Easter Sunday, and winds after that, and by the time I got out to the labyrinth a week later there were only parts of it still visible. I entered where I thought the entrance was walking in ten spaces or so and then I stood bewildered. The path seemed to disappear in front of me. I walked out again and stood on the outside looking in at the hills and valleys that once made up the labyrinth. When I thought I could see the way I headed back in again until I came to another place where it just disappeared in front of me. I stood for a long time trying to look at it from all different angles then gave up and headed out once more. I left to head back towards the village and thought about it the whole way, seeing no possible way to continue on through it.
A few days later, my friend Rachel told me about her walk out to the labyrinth with her boyfriend. She had been able to stomp it down again and find the path. It took both of them to decipher where the path led. Brian stood on the outside where he could see the dips and curves better and gave her instruction whenever she couldn’t see anymore, this way, slowly but surely the path was revealed and marked out for others. All of these different approaches to the labyrinth also made me think about our individual approaches to our relationship with God, and how often I get bewildered and distract myself with something else rather than asking for help or continuing my pursuit of my path. In the giving up, there was a part of me though that knew that soon enough, if I just waited long enough the snow would melt and the path would be evident. Isn’t this all a part of our life journey? We are met with challenges daily that we either take on or walk away from, and some of the ones we walk away from continue to come up again and again until we are ready to take them on.