How I found the labyrinth, or how the labyrinth found me?
In my previous location, in Albury-Wodonga on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, I was a member of an ecumenical management group for the local tertiary chaplain. The chaplain as part of her connection to uni students would sometimes make temporary labyrinths at the two campuses she served. Sometimes she would mark them out on concrete or grass with flour, chalk or other means. The very positive response the chaplain received from students whetted my appetite to explore these intriguing labyrinth designs further. At the time, I had a large backyard in my home with an extensive lawn to mow. In winter and early spring, it would be green and thick. One year with a google image in hand, I decided to mow a labyrinth into the lawn. It was a simple circuitous labyrinth that uniformly led into the centre and then back out again. It was tricky to create at first but it was a sensory experience to slow down and walk it with the smell of freshly cut grass dense in the air. It was a joy to see my children run through it and over time the field (the unmowed sections) would grow higher together with the yellow dandelions which sprung up at that time of year.
Often, its only after our eyes are opened to something new that we become aware of that new thing not being so new after all. I then started to notice labyrinths at retreat places and conferences I went to. Over time I moved back to Queensland, to the Sunshine Coast to serve as chaplain at Pacific Lutheran College. One of the things that drew me to accept the call to Pacific was the ministry of the previous school pastors. In particular the work Rick Zweck had done on Christian meditation and spirituality resonated with me. Rick was instrumental in having an outside Petite Chartres style labyrinth built at the edge of the college campus which he blessed at the end of 2015. When I moved to Pacific the following year, I was blessed to visit Rick at his home. It was a very humbling experience to be with him and communicate with him with the help of his ipad. Rick was very eager to show me his work on labyrinths which he used with numerous Lutheran schools in Queensland and across the country. He was passionate in communicating to students and staff, children and adults, churches and schools through his PowerPoint presentations the meaning, purpose, and benefits of walking the labyrinth. Particularly significant for Rick was the value of pilgrimage, of reclaiming this ritual journey of walking with a purpose which Jesus did while on earth and the monastic contemplative spiritualities of the church which Martin Luther reformed rather than abolished.
Six months later Rick’s earthly pilgrimage came to an end. It was the first day of term three. To help students receive this news the principal suggested that I position myself at the college labyrinth and after students were told of the news they could come over to walk the labyrinth. Over the next two days I lead over one hundred students through the labyrinth. Prior to this I had not facilitated a labyrinth walk. Labyrinths are a great place to process grief and loss and certainly that baptism of fire proved it to me. It was a beautiful thing that the most visible legacy Rick had left Pacific Lutheran College, the labyrinth, was used at his death to help students in a significant point of their earthly pilgrimage.
Rick Zweck had made the labyrinth part and parcel of the culture of Pacific College. My principal and myself were keen for that to continue with his passing. So, I was pleased when Lutheran Education Queensland (LEQ) contacted me to invite me and my neighbouring colleague Kathrin Konig from Immanuel College Buderim to continue the pioneering labyrinth work Rick did for Lutheran schools. As a result of LEQ’s support through the Ruth Murray Bequest, Kathrin and myself went to Sydney to the Australia Labyrinth Summer School to complete Veriditas training by Lauren Artress. Lauren is an Episcopalian Pastor from the United States who brought the labyrinth into prominence in the 1990s. During the Summer School training, I experienced another way to walk the labyrinth; with a question for discernment. After some reflection and journaling, I walked a classical six circuit labyrinth with my question about a personal issue I was struggling with in my family. After walking into the centre as soon as I quieted myself I received an immediate response to my struggle, an answer to my prayer. It was another powerful encounter with the labyrinth which encouraged me in my faith in God.
Since that labyrinth training I have led hundreds of students and teachers through the labyrinth. And I have never stop wondering how this ancient Christian spiritual practice has the ability to connect with all sorts of people, at all sorts of times in their lives. How the labyrinth just like God, finds us, just when we think we are looking for it/him.
Often, its only after our eyes are opened to something new that we become aware of that new thing not being so new after all. I then started to notice labyrinths at retreat places and conferences I went to. Over time I moved back to Queensland, to the Sunshine Coast to serve as chaplain at Pacific Lutheran College. One of the things that drew me to accept the call to Pacific was the ministry of the previous school pastors. In particular the work Rick Zweck had done on Christian meditation and spirituality resonated with me. Rick was instrumental in having an outside Petite Chartres style labyrinth built at the edge of the college campus which he blessed at the end of 2015. When I moved to Pacific the following year, I was blessed to visit Rick at his home. It was a very humbling experience to be with him and communicate with him with the help of his ipad. Rick was very eager to show me his work on labyrinths which he used with numerous Lutheran schools in Queensland and across the country. He was passionate in communicating to students and staff, children and adults, churches and schools through his PowerPoint presentations the meaning, purpose, and benefits of walking the labyrinth. Particularly significant for Rick was the value of pilgrimage, of reclaiming this ritual journey of walking with a purpose which Jesus did while on earth and the monastic contemplative spiritualities of the church which Martin Luther reformed rather than abolished.
Six months later Rick’s earthly pilgrimage came to an end. It was the first day of term three. To help students receive this news the principal suggested that I position myself at the college labyrinth and after students were told of the news they could come over to walk the labyrinth. Over the next two days I lead over one hundred students through the labyrinth. Prior to this I had not facilitated a labyrinth walk. Labyrinths are a great place to process grief and loss and certainly that baptism of fire proved it to me. It was a beautiful thing that the most visible legacy Rick had left Pacific Lutheran College, the labyrinth, was used at his death to help students in a significant point of their earthly pilgrimage.
Rick Zweck had made the labyrinth part and parcel of the culture of Pacific College. My principal and myself were keen for that to continue with his passing. So, I was pleased when Lutheran Education Queensland (LEQ) contacted me to invite me and my neighbouring colleague Kathrin Konig from Immanuel College Buderim to continue the pioneering labyrinth work Rick did for Lutheran schools. As a result of LEQ’s support through the Ruth Murray Bequest, Kathrin and myself went to Sydney to the Australia Labyrinth Summer School to complete Veriditas training by Lauren Artress. Lauren is an Episcopalian Pastor from the United States who brought the labyrinth into prominence in the 1990s. During the Summer School training, I experienced another way to walk the labyrinth; with a question for discernment. After some reflection and journaling, I walked a classical six circuit labyrinth with my question about a personal issue I was struggling with in my family. After walking into the centre as soon as I quieted myself I received an immediate response to my struggle, an answer to my prayer. It was another powerful encounter with the labyrinth which encouraged me in my faith in God.
Since that labyrinth training I have led hundreds of students and teachers through the labyrinth. And I have never stop wondering how this ancient Christian spiritual practice has the ability to connect with all sorts of people, at all sorts of times in their lives. How the labyrinth just like God, finds us, just when we think we are looking for it/him.
Zweck Labyrinth Resources
The following powerpoint resources were developed by the late Pastor Rick Zweck who was instrumental in bringing labyrinths into prominence in Lutheran Schools across Australia. Rick was passionate about Christian meditation, pilgrimage and walking the labyrinth. Rick successfully embedded the labyrinth into the culture of Pacific Lutheran College. The Zweck family have kindly given their permission for these resources to be posted publicly so that the good work which Rick undertook can continue to grow and bless others.
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These two articles below were also written by Rick Zweck for the Australian Labyrinth Network's Newsletter "Labyrinths Matter". The articles deal with how the labyrinth was embedded into the culture of Pacific College. Thanks to Rick's pioneering work, students and staff at Pacific know that the labyrinth is an important part of our college's spirituality and practice. Thanks to Lorraine Rodda from the Interim Management Group of the Australian Labyrinth Network for permission to post these articles.
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School Labyrinth Resources
These resources have been developed for workshops I have done with teachers from various schools as well as a brief handout on how to facilitate a labyrinth walk for the Year 7-12 Pastoral Care Groups at my school.
| Unity Labyrinth Workshop |
| Labyrinth Facilitation |
Each year at my school the Year 12s as part of their final week of activities undertake a labyrinth walk. This walk focuses on the start of their transition from secondary school to post-school life. A simple action that is done to ritualise this transition is for the students to take a leaf, stone or stick and place on it any thoughts, actions, or experiences they want to leave behind in the labyrinth. As they leave school they are invited to leave that thing in the centre of the labyrinth - to place it in God’s hands! Included here is also a reflection paper for students to process their walk.
| Year 12 Labyrinth Walk |
| Year 12 Student Reflection Paper.docx |
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