Connecticut Sunday

DANBURY -- The idea came to the Rev. Cindy Maddox several years ago as she walked a labyrinth at Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center in Litchfield. The twisting, turning path, which offers a place for spiritual meditation, helped the pastor meditate and reflect when a hectic schedule was taking its toll on her.

"I was thinking about how busy we are as a church, and how hectic people's lives are personally. I was wishing we had a labyrinth closer so our people could experience the benefits of the spiritual practice of walking a labyrinth," Maddox said.

"I suddenly realized that we could build our own."

Maddox took the idea back to the Ministry Council at her parish, the King Street United Church of Christ, and work began soon afterward. The labyrinth will be dedicated Sunday in a ceremony following the

9:30 a.m. worship service.

Just as a labyrinth itself takes many twists and turns, so did the congregation's path in completing it, Maddox said.

"We decided to make it a memorial garden so that we could honor loved ones who have died," she said. "We hired a woman to help us lay out the design, and a number of church members came on several different days to lay out the bricks. Members brought rocks, and one, Steve Fuller, built a stone wall."

Boy Scout Alex Brittain agreed to take on the landscaping as part of his Eagle Scout project.

Alex belongs to Troop 52 in Danbury, which is sponsored by the church.

"Along with the help of Scouts in my Troop, the work was completed in April," he said. "We installed two new sections of fence, a bench, a walkway and the peace pole."

The peace pole was made last year by the church's confirmation class. The tall wooden pole has the word "peace" inscribed on it in many languages.

"Members of the church have been working on this project for at least three years," said Fuller, of Danbury, a church member. "It has been a community effort.

"Dave McKee cleared the land with a backhoe, different people helped lay the brick for the pathway and many church members got involved. This past Sunday, we worked on planting more shrubs.

"Landscape architect Bill Montgomery, a church member, laid out the way the shrubs were to be planted, and I worked with Pastor Maddox and Amanda Deming to finish the planting."

A memorial plaque honoring more than 50 loved ones of the congregation has been ordered and is expected in time for Sunday's ceremony.

Walking a labyrinth can be a deeply spiritual and centering experience. At its most basic level, the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.

Wisdom House describes it in this way:

"Life is full of twists and turns. Life's journey is rarely one straight path directed toward our goal ... The labyrinth's path moves us through twists and turns until we reach the center. Throughout the walk, we rely on our faith and trust that the winding path truly leads to God, the center of our life. When we walk the labyrinth with the presence of God, even amid life's twists and turns, we will find our way back home."

Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused. A maze is like a puzzle to be solved. It has twists, turns and blind alleys. It is a left-brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and out.

A labyrinth has only one path; the way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again.

"As far as we know, ours is the only labyrinth of its kind in Danbury," said Maddox, "and it is open to the public."

Thanks to the contributions of the congregation and its friends, the community will have a resource for meditation and reflection for many seasons to come.

For more information, contact the Rev. Cindy Maddox at 203-748-0719 or pastor@kingstchurch.org.