Start the new year with a labyrinth walk

Come to West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church on Jan. 1 and start the new year off right with a spiritually moving and invigorating experience! As 2022 gives way to 2023, you are invited to walk West Shore’s new labyrinth, which will be located in Baker Hall at 20401 Hilliard Boulevard in Rocky River. Drop in anytime from 10 a.m.-noon. The Labyrinth Walk is open to all free of charge.

According to Senior Minister Anthony Makar, “The labyrinth is perhaps one of the oldest symbols known to mankind. It is a profound symbol of the spiritual journey.” He explained that in the Middle Ages, for example, walking a cathedral labyrinth was a substitute for going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Not everyone could make the long and arduous journey to the Holy Land, so walking a labyrinth in a church was a devotional activity. Today, labyrinths are used as walking meditations, to focus the mind and put the walker in tune with a spiritual reality greater than themselves.

Besides walking the labyrinth, there will be various other stations set up in the building which can help you navigate the transition to a new year. One station, for example, will be a place where you can light a candle to remember loved ones or honor a turning point in your life. At another station, you will find special slips of paper that dissolve in water. Write down something you’d like to let go of, and experience healing as you see the paper dissolve before your eyes.