The Labyrinth at Grailville

Today I took a few hours and visited Grailville in Loveland, OH. I have known about Grailville since we moved here 14 years ago, and I had finally run out of excuses. It was a Spring Day, I wasn't working so I grabbed my Nordic Walking Poles and headed northwards.

There was a lady there with a small child who gave me several notices of events and maps of the complex. There were different meeting halls, kitchens and sleeping areas on what was essentially a working organic farm.

I grabbed my poles and walked the hiking trails- The poles came in handy when crossing the stream and dodging muddy parts of the trail. I came upon a small gathering of benches on the far side of the stream.

The sun was bright and the leaves were sprouting on the trees. I walked up the hill and found the Stations of the Cross that were listed along the trail. Below each station was the biblical transcript of each of the stations of Jesus's path to the cross, then a modern interpretation of each one.

The Ninth Station, the one that detailed the Last Fall made me stop- We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The modern interpretation was what made me stop- It said, Even though we make mistakes, over and over again- we will still try. I would have never in a million years seen that as the meaning- but it was showing that we are all human, and it's okay to make mistakes. I felt a strange sense of comfort.

Along the last part was a farm with sheep, cows and pigs. There were some new spring lambs and calves in the field-

Then onto the Labyrinth

The Labyrinth was different than I expected. I expected it to be flagstones, but it wasn't. It was just a mowed path of grass that curved in and out in a snake like moving direction towards the center of the field.

The movement of walking through the path of grass made sense after a while. The path was uncertain, not clearly defined, symbolizing the journey of life (which is uncertain and not clearly defined).

The weird thing was you didn't dare deviate from the path either. I don't know why, even though it would have been very easy to jump the small mounds of grass and cheat. I stayed on the path and walked with my poles. I found my whole body was getting into it, I lost myself in the movement-arms, legs and focused on my breath. Before I knew it, I was in the center of the Labyrinth- which consisted of a loop.

It meant that you had to walk back the exact way you came. I don't know why, but I had always thought it was like a maze, that there would be another way out.

I started to laugh- Here I was in the middle of a grass field that I had walked almost an half an hour to get to- when I could simply walk across it again (forgetting the path) in less than 30 seconds. And I was going to spend another half hour walking back the way I came.

And underneath the absurdity was a sense of accomplishment and peace.

I walked back the same way I came- Through the Labyrinth once more!

When I walked to my car, a lady who I hadn't met before said, "There is a serious walking man" noticing the walking poles.

I smiled at her and mumbled something about "Nordic Walking Poles" which sounded strange and pretty silly. I quietly got into my car-

I drove home tired, but also relaxed and rested. I will go back there again-

http://www.grailville.org/