{"id":765,"date":"2011-08-13T01:47:50","date_gmt":"2011-08-13T05:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/?p=765"},"modified":"2011-08-13T18:53:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-13T22:53:59","slug":"a-spiral-shaped-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/a-spiral-shaped-sanctuary\/","title":{"rendered":"A Spiral-Shaped Sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nGr\u00fcnewald Guild Labyrinth<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the penultimate night of my two-week sojourn at the Gr\u00fcnewald Guild<\/a>, a wondrous retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State where I teach every summer. Devoted to exploring and celebrating the connections between art and faith, the Guild is something of a second home for me\u2014a place where I find my tribe.<\/p>\n

With its beautiful setting, remarkable community, and artful spirit, the Guild offers much sanctuary. The past couple of weeks have provided many moments of connection and opportunities to savor the presence of the sacred. In conversations, in seeing what\u2019s taking shape in the studios, in our morning and evening gatherings for Matins and Vespers, in the fellowship around the table or over teacups, there is a continual invitation to be present, to pay attention to how the Spirit moves and creates in community, and to find and offer sustenance with these folks who know what it\u2019s like to live in the intersections of art and faith\u2014an experience that\u2019s often more difficult to come by in my life back in Florida.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been mindful, too, of seeking some spaces of quiet and solitude, though with having such a limited time here, I\u2019m spending as much time with the community as my introverted self can handle. This evening, in need of a bit of time to myself as I approach the end of almost two weeks of being with others almost constantly, I took myself to the sanctuary of the labyrinth here at the Guild. It\u2019s one of my absolute favorite labyrinths\u2014a Celtic triple spiral laid out in stones, overlooking the Wenatchee River. It doesn\u2019t matter where you enter the labyrinth\u2014select any spiral, turn right or left, and the path will draw you in.<\/p>\n

This evening I walked the triple-spiraled circuit once, and then again, and yet a third time, taking in the sounds of the river, the feel of my feet on the path, the rhythm of moving slowly. My brain, which typically keeps a perpetual monologue going as I ponder and process and chew on things throughout my waking moments, eased into the spiraling way, settling into the quiet, if not turning its chatter entirely off.<\/p>\n

And so, as I savor the quiet of this evening, I find myself wondering: Where are you finding sanctuary these days? How are you experiencing the rhythms of solitude and community, and do you have the balance of these that you need? What paths are you traveling, and are they paths you are choosing mindfully and with intention, or have you found yourself upon them for some other reason? How do you want to be moving through these days?<\/p>\n

I traveled the triple spiral one more time before I left, this time taking a video camera with me. Want to take a walk?<\/p>\n