On April 23, 2017, our “Green Team” dedicated our outdoor labyrinth.
ABOUT LABYRINTHS
Labyrinths are used world-wide as a way to quiet the mind, find balance, and encourage meditation, insight, and celebration. They are open to all people as a non-denominational, cross-cultural tool of well-being. The labyrinth is not a maze. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends. It has a single circuitous path that winds into the center. The person walking it uses the same path to return and the entrance then becomes the exit. The path is in full view, which allows a person to be quiet and focus internally. Generally there are three stages to the walk: releasing on the way in, receiving in the center, and returning; that is, taking back out into the world that which you have received.
Please be aware that you may be sharing the labyrinth with others who are on their own personal journeys. The path is two-way and you may pass others as you walk.
ABOUT OUR DESIGN
The Santa Rosa Labyrinth © by Lea Goode-Harris, Ph.D. is but one in the lineage of the many labyrinths created over the past three to five thousand years in all parts of the world. It was the first of a wave of neo-medieval designs, created since the mid-nineties in the United States by diverse labyrinthers for different needs and styles. These contemporary designs meld together the seven circuits of the classical labyrinth and the quarter and half turns of the ancient medieval labyrinths. The design includes an open space on the fourth path, the heart path. This space allows for a focus of the heart, experienced and viewed from all four directions.
The labyrinth is open to the public and is listed on the World Wide Labyrinth locator. This effort is part of our certification process for GreenFaith. GreenFaith includes organizations from diverse religious traditions who wish to demonstrate and grow their commitment to environmental stewardship.
The labyrinth is located in the wooded area behind the parking lot at the rear of the church.
WITH THANKS
For supporting the construction of this labyrinth, we would like to thank the following for their efforts:
Measuring and laying out the site: Lynn Brown, Anne Corey, Connie Knapp
Choosing bricks and getting materials: Connie Knapp, Tami Seidel, Dick Seymour
Digging out weeds and laying bricks: Dick Seymour (who put in many, many hours); Margaret Gruber; Matt Hager; Stephanie Hare; Ben Low; Chip Low; Tami Seidel; Andy, Erik and Alex Mavian; Dick and Squeegee Mills; Renna, Ajay, Kunal and Smita Mohindra; Anthony Mosca; Yoham Ortiz; Margery Rossi and Andy Torres; Luke Torres-Rossi; Faith and Tony Tomicich; Greg Mack; Vinnie Wallace
Financial Support: Hudson River Presbytery’s Challenge to Change Grant, FPCY’s Memorial Fund, remembering all the saints of the church