People come for many reasons, but most find that walking a labyrinth to be a transforming experience.  Walking through the turns and counterturns, the world begins to drop away.  The spiritual and physical merge into a walking meditation.  The walking pace allows us to empty our minds as we journey toward a spiritual center.  The walk can soothe the nerves, calm the soul, and mend the heart.
  
We are all on a journey, but many of us don't know where we are going or where we have been.  The labyrinth draws on a spiritual practice that is thousands of years old and spans the world's religions.  Walking the path takes one intentionally along a path that cuts back and forth through a series of curves until it arrives at a center.  Over 1000 labyrinths are being used in the US.  Hospitals, schools and businesses are building them as respite and recreation for patients, students, congregations, employees and clients.  The labyrinth is gentle and non-coercive.  It is designed to be responsive to individual needs.  Wherever people are in their spiritual journey, it encourages them to open up to God for knowledge and change.  It allows for a personal encounter with God, while giving us control over the pace and depth we go.
  
Unlike a maze, there are no dead ends or false paths in a labyrinth.  You simply follow the path to the center, putting one foot in front of the other.  A labyrinth walk has some distinct parts.  The first is the Inward Journey, the letting go of the barriers and busyness that stand between us and God.  Letting go is a part of the preparation to "meet with God."  After letting go, we should be more able to spend time quietly in the center of the labyrinth.  The center of the labyrinth symbolizes God as the axis of our world, the central point around which our lives and journeys revolve.  The time spent in the center is time spent being open to God's leading.  The Outward Journey symbolizes incarnation.  We journey out of the labyrinth carrying something of our encounter with God, and carrying God out into the world with us.