A Chalice and a Labyrinth
by Carol S. Helms, RScP
In a recent discussion about bucket lists, it occurred to me that I don’t have one, but I am drawn to the idea of a chalice list. One interpretation of the word chalice is “a symbol of religious freedom from the imposition of doctrine by a hierarchy and openness to participation by all.” Ernest Holmes reminds us that “We should hold out our cup of acceptance until it is filled and overflowing with the manifestations of our desires. This chalice of the heart is held up that the heavenly flow may fill it with God’s abundant life.” ~ The Science of Mind, p. 246.
One of my favorite and most illuminating spiritual practices is daily walking meditative prayer, and frequently I get a notion to create a labyrinth in the backyard. A spiritual labyrinth is “an ancient symbol of wholeness” and “represents a journey or path to our own center and back again out into the world.”
In the volatility of world events perhaps talk of chalices and labyrinths seem like pie in the sky, but both have become channels of oneness, for I am one with God, everything, and every one. And in this oneness I keep my focus on the one loving God; Creator of all there is and embrace the knowing that all that is, is good. God is the constant in the turbulence; the anchor in the storm; the peace in the appearance of unrest. I see God in the resilience of the heroic Ukrainian leader and in the unintended and undeterred bold, beautiful and brave followers. I know that I know that I know, in our oneness with God and each other, that as I walk my spiritual labyrinth and hold up the chalice of my heart, the sureness footedness and overflowing chalice is shared with our brothers and sisters around the world.
So today, it is with great gratitude that I release this prayer and invite all in the vibration of this prayer to raise your chalice, join me in the labyrinth of life and prayer for peace that passes all understanding, for it is unto us as we believe. And so it is!