Walking The Church Year
I am known for changing around the furniture placement in my home or in my classrooms with regularity. I like how a small tweak causes my brain to rewire and refresh how we use the space. It’s akin to having a toy rotation for children; bring out a few toys from the closet, put a few away, and the kids magically remain engaged longer and more deeply. If we want to grow, we sometimes need to come out of existing systems. This is one of the reasons I love to bring out labyrinths when I’m working with a group I’ve been with for a while. It helps us pray differently. It helps us try a new type of practice and find new techniques. It often reveals new information. When Walking the Church Year by Robert J.F. Elsner landed in my inbox, I was quite happy to have a new resource to help me guide youth and adults through walking the labyrinth.
Walking the Church Year is a pocket sized resource, meant to be slipped into your pocket or bag for easy access. It begins with an introduction to labyrinths, followed by sections dedicated to different ways to use a labyrinth during Ordinary Time, Advent, Lent, and Easter. There are also chapters for feast days, special occasions, and public holidays. Each walk contains Scripture to help focus, preparation instructions for entering the labyrinth, possible phrases for focusing, a prayer for when you reach the center of the labyrinth, and preparation instructions for leaving the labyrinth. The text is well placed, the sections easy to follow, and the instructions are clear.
This is a handy resource to keep in your library. You can hand it to someone looking for a new prayer practice. I found the layout to be useful as a daily devotional, so it’s not limited to those with large labyrinths. I have a small labyrinth sticker that I used. Walking the Church Year space for those of us who do most of our walking in our neighborhood, in our home as we chase after little ones, and for those of us walking through caretaking of older loved ones. This would be a lovely resource as you plan a retreat for youth and young adults. Labyrinth walking would be a wonderful morning or afternoon option. Perhaps you have a small group looking for a 6 week session of plans- this book will easily provide that. Perhaps you are looking to reignite a prayer ministry in your congregation- this resource will be of great help. I would also consider using it with families, particularly those with young children. Families creating a labyrinth together (you can use painter’s tape, stones, or chalk) and walking it with a purpose will produce fruits you would not see otherwise. This little volume packs quite a punch!
