Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Home
About
My Book
Archives
More
- Theology
- Culture
- Politics
- Sermons
- Bible
- Devotions
- Daily Office
- Podcast

Home
Progressive Christian
A lesson in walking slowly

A lesson in walking slowly

Last updated on: October 31, 2015 at 12:29 pm by Morgan Guyton

A lesson in walking slowly 2015-10-31T12:29:18-05:00 Morgan Guyton

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My son Isaiah and I have developed a tradition. Each Saturday after he plays soccer at the Fly along the Mississippi River, on the way back, we stop by Audubon Park’s prayer labyrinth. Isaiah has tended to understand the labyrinth like a maze: it’s a race to see who can get to the end first without stepping over any lines. But today when we got to the labyrinth, an older woman had arrived just before us. And she was walking SLOWLY. She had a pained look in her face that might have been grief and was at the very least deep spiritual need. And I thought oh my gosh, we’re about to ruin her sacred experience.

In all my time visiting the labyrinth, I’ve never seen another person actually walk it. People do yoga on top of it. People sit on the benches surrounding it to smoke and talk on their cell phones. Children draw cartoons in chalk on top of it. But I’m the only one I’ve ever known to actually walk it. And it’s always felt like a big shame that such an amazing spiritual resource is entirely neglected by a city like New Orleans, so Catholic and rich in sacred space.

I had planned on letting Isaiah run through the labyrinth and do his normal first grade maze race, while I walked slowly behind him with my prayer beads. But now I had to be a parent and pray at the same time. It probably would have been much easier if I had just told Isaiah he had to stay behind me. But I let him go first. I told him to go slow, and he was doing his best, but inevitably after 30 seconds, he was right behind the woman. So I told him to stop and wait. Over and over and over again.

Fortunately the way a labyrinth is structured, the path circles around itself so I was able to stop Isaiah and put my arm around him several times when he got too close behind the woman. It was an interesting challenge in contemplative parenting. If I had raised my voice with him, I would have been the one to disrupt the woman’s sacred walk. I had to be gentle, trying to catch his eye and put up my finger and my hand to say stop when he got too close. Or if he wasn’t looking, to snap my fingers at just the right volume so that my anxious energy wouldn’t disturb the woman. And I was doing all this while praying through my prayer beads.

We survived walking slow. It wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I initially thought it would be. I kind of wanted the woman to notice what a heroic job of parenting I was doing and say, “Don’t worry! He’s fine,” or smile at how cute he was, but she never did. I didn’t see her scowling either. She did leave after reaching the middle instead of walking all the way out which made me a little sad. But she did so without expressing any sense of frustration or annoyance. She just had the same sad, wistful look on her face. When she got to the middle, she paused a whole minute to pray. And Isaiah reached the middle behind her and immediately darted back out on the return path to the outside.

When Isaiah and I passed each other as he was coming back out, I realized that I had been given a teaching moment. I told him that even though he didn’t have to walk as slowly anymore, I wanted him to try something new. I said the labyrinth is more than just a maze where the goal is to finish first. I said it’s a place where people say the same prayer over and over again to feel God’s presence. So I gave him a prayer: “Jesus, I love you; thank you for taking care of me.” And I told him to whisper it over and over again as he was walking.

I heard him do it some. As he started doing it, my perspective shifted. I realized that if the woman had never been there, I wouldn’t have taught my son about contemplative prayer. How many years would I have continued to walk the labyrinth working my own prayer beads without teaching him anything? The woman was the master God had put in our path to show us both how to walk slowly. I needed to learn how not to freak out that my kid was going to annoy another adult and I would get judged for it. If the woman had reassured me in the banter-ish way that we parents like to reassure each other about our children’s excess energy, then I probably wouldn’t have learned the lesson.

As I backed away a little more from our lesson, I realized that God is teaching me how to walk slowly in all aspects of my life. I’ve been utterly uncontemplative in my role as a campus minister. I’ve been so desperate to recruit new people so that we can have a critical mass of community so that students who come to visit won’t say this is lame, I’m not coming back. I was super-anxious about the Halloween party we had last night, worried sick that nobody was going to show and it would be a total flop.

Our party was small. But it wasn’t dead or awkward. We had a somewhat corny Halloween playlist with songs like “The Monster Mash,” but nobody was scandalized. We decorated gingerbread Halloween houses. We played Clue and Apples to Apples. A few people bobbed for apples (mostly my two sons). Community is happening. Maybe it’s been happening this whole time and I was just too much of a basket-case to see it.

I’m realizing that I have been like my son rushing through the prayer labyrinth while God has been sending me signals and snapping his fingers for me to stop and wait. A year ago, we were doing lectio divina at a campus ministry retreat with the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 for our text. The phrase that God spoke to me was from the very beginning: “After he sat down, his disciples came to him.” Sitting down is such a terrifying thing to do when the world is always telling me that I could always be doing more marketing. If I invite 10 people, 2 are going to come, which means I need to invite 50 so that 10 will come.

I’ve had a beehive of voices in my brain telling me what a worthless parent I am, what a disorganized train-wreck I am, how uncompelling and uncharming I must be that I haven’t figured out how to draw a crowd on Sunday nights. But meanwhile God is quietly working. A community is happening. God is walking slowly behind me while I race through the labyrinth, longing to reach the part of the story where I’m able to look back and say, “Man, those first couple of years were rough but God was with me and look at us now!”

It’s so interesting how we learn what God is doing for us when we do it for our children. I don’t know how the hell to be a father. Often, I holler and harangue my boys in ways that are completely ineffective and unhelpful. But today I was a good dad. I was gentle and patient. My heart swelled up with love for my son as I got to see him learn a simple lesson. And in that space, I was able to feel the love of the one who has been patiently parenting me through the labyrinth of my life. He’s showing me how to walk slowly. And I’m starting to feel better.

Please like my facebook blog page!

Previous Post

October 27, 2015

The authority of the badge vs. the authority of the cross

Next Post

November 1, 2015 Seven points of contention in today's reformation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Beauty Will Save the World Bible Big Picture: Ephesians Bloggers Book Christian salvation and the Beautitudes Culture Daily Office Danceable Homiletics Deadly Sins Deep Roots: Genesis Devotions Dominican Republic May 2011 El Principio Misericordia (The Mercy Principle) Five verses God tattooed on my heart Fundraising FutureGospel Good Biblical Words Henri Nouwen Interview Jennings' Christian Imagination Jesus inside the beltway Jesus Is My Candidate Jesus vs the Pharisees Jesus vs. Plato Journey to Eternity Looking Back on 2012 Love Actually Monday Merton Monday Merton Music Occupy the manger On Earth As It Is In Heaven Original Sin Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Psalm 119 Radical Jesus 101 Reviews Sermon on the Mount Sermons Spanish Bible study Special Series Spiritual but not religious Synchroblog Theology Things that made me think Thomas a Kempis Ugliness Into Beauty Uncategorized Viaje Dominicano 2013 Walking in the Valley (Lent) Welcome: It's More than a Mat Wild Goose 2013 Wrestling

Select a Month March 2022 January 2022 December 2021 September 2021 April 2021 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the final plague that led Pharaoh to release the Israelites?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Death of the firstborn Locusts Hail Frogs