Following a Path

My walking meditation as I traversed the labyrinth at the Church of the Epiphany today focused on my son and his arduous decision-making path. As I took the first step, I realized how similar the labyrinth and his thought process are.

Having completed his English-training course in Budapest, he is currently in Berlin, where he is searching out job possibilities. This is never straightforward and easy, but especially not in an EU county with a high unemployment rate. We have given him a couple of ideas from friends here, but he is largely on his own in a country in which he doesn’t speak the language.

Just as with the labyrinth, he follows a promising path for a long way only to find that it twists and turns and doubles back again. But he is amazingly upbeat and happy as he is searching. He wrote today to tell me he had gone on a free walking tour of the city of Berlin. That would be so exciting.

As I arrived at the center of the labyrinth today, I looked up at one set of stained glass windows and turned 180 degrees to look at another set even more beautiful. There is something so sweet about resting in the center before picking up the path that returns you to the place where you initially started.

I hope he will emerge at the end of his job search with the same feeling of peace and fulfillment I experienced today. The mindfulness of walking one carefully placed step at a time is very satisfying.