First Sunday of Lent
Entering the Labyrinth: Setting Your Intention
“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.”
— Howard Thurman
Welcome to our Lenten pilgrimage.
This season, we will journey together using the labyrinth as our sacred path toward Easter. The labyrinth is not a maze. There are no wrong turns. There is a single path that winds slowly toward the center and then leads you back out again—an embodied prayer, a way of walking toward the heart of God and returning to the world changed.
Lent invites us into intentional reflection.
What do we need to release?
What are we carrying that no longer serves our healing?
What is waiting to rise from deep within us?
In this first reflection, Kara invites us to stand at the entrance—to pause before we begin—to set down what we carry and to listen for what Howard Thurman calls “the sound of the genuine” within ourselves.
Before you press play, consider creating a quiet space. You may wish to download and print a finger labyrinth, hold a small object, light a candle, or simply rest your hands in your lap.
When you are ready, begin.
Your Practice This Week
Lent is not about rushing forward. It is about walking slowly and intentionally.
This week’s invitation is simple: set your intention.
Take time to imagine yourself standing at the entrance of the labyrinth:
Who stands around you?
What voices do you hear?
What burdens are you carrying?
What expectations, worries, or responsibilities need to be set down—if only for a moment?
As you release what you are holding, notice what rises within you.
Is there a word?
A phrase?
A hope?
Let that be your intention for this season.
You may wish to:
Trace a finger labyrinth slowly and prayerfully.
Walk a labyrinth near you.
Journal about what you are releasing and what you are receiving.
Sit in silence for five minutes each day, listening for the genuine within.
There is no right way to walk this path. Only the invitation to begin.
We will gather next Sunday again to take our first steps together toward the center.
May this be a season of release, renewal, and holy listening.
