Walk this way.

Life has a way of disrupting our inner peace and sense of direction. But walking the labyrinth remains a time-honored way to slow down and encounter God.

MY LIFE WAS STARTING TO SOUND LIKE THAT insurance company list of most stressful life changes--a divorce, a new job, a return to graduate school. With each transition, I took it to prayer, seeking meaning and a sense of direction. Where was my life's path headed? What was the next step?

I found some answers by literally walking in circles.

A labyrinth program at a local women's spirituality center piqued my curiosity. I had heard of this ancient prayer tool but never actually experienced it. It turns out those medieval monks were onto something: The simple process of prayerful walking was meditative for me, prompting a sense of inner peace and surfacing spiritual insights.

The sense of sacred space was enhanced by soft music and flickering votive candles scattered across the huge canvas circle that stretched to the edges of the room. I took a deep breath and entered the path with deliberate steps, aiming for that pace that bridesmaids are instructed to keep: Step, together; step, together.

Then I hit the first loop and nearly toppled trying to make the 180-degree turn. After a while, I began to imagine the turns as my life's transitions and learned to stop and pause at each corner, grounding myself by firmly planting both feet. Of course, just when you think you're nearing the center, the path takes you in another direction--another metaphor for my life!

With the labyrinth, everything operates on the level of metaphor. The path symbolizes our life's journey. The circle represents wholeness, and the design leads us to our center. The labyrinth's twists and turns feel like the twists and turns of our lives. And when we walk it with other people, we are reminded that no one makes this journey alone.

Although walking the labyrinth is definitely meant to facilitate individual introspection, it can also be a powerful experience of community. As I brushed shoulders with people who were passing me and observed those both behind and in front of me, I realized we're all on the same path, though some of us are at different points on the journey.

Unlike a maze, which has dizzying decisions and tricky dead ends, the labyrinth has only one path that leads into the center and back out. Some describe walking the labyrinth as a three-fold path: a process of emptying and surrender as they enter, illumination at the center, and moving back into the world empowered and refreshed on the way out.

In the past several years, the labyrinth has been rediscovered by many spiritual seekers, thanks in large part to Lauren Artress, author of Walking a Sacred Path (Riverhead, 1996). Now there are books, seminars, Web sites, even pilgrimages to popular labyrinth sites. Hundreds of the circular designs have been erected in churches, hospitals, and schools. They are printed on canvas or plastic, created out of stones, mowed into fields, even assembled out of Legos.

In fact, the labyrinth phenomenon has even merited a front-page article in The New York Times, where it was described as "a meld of ancient tradition and New Age" becoming popular among those "looking beyond the pulpit for spiritual experience and solace."

It's true that some labyrinth aficionados are disconnected from the Christian tradition. But the symbol--which, like many Christian symbols, predates Christianity--does have roots in Catholicism. Historians believe that medieval pilgrims walked labyrinths, perhaps as a substitute for an actual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The design can be found in many European churches, the most famous being the 11-circuit labyrinth with rosette center laid in the floor at Chartres Cathedral near Paris, which dates to about 1200.

Like any meditative practice, walking the labyrinth is a way to quiet our busy minds in order to listen to the inner voice of God. At a time when many Catholics--especially younger ones--seem to be dusting off traditions from the past, the labyrinth can be a good stepping-off point for modern-day pilgrims trying to walk a spiritual path.