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and on finding the skills and abilities needed within the Council at this time. Our new members are Grace Amirault from Ontario, Canada, Laura Esculcas from Turcifal, Portugal, and Kathy McLean from Jacksonville, Florida.

It was at the Golden door in Escondido, CA sometime between 1996 and 1998. They had just built their Labyrinth there. Lauren had trained Francine to facilitate and she was the first person to give a Veriditas presentation at the Golden Door. This was my first experience of walking the labyrinth. Because of my religious background I was probably a little uneasy, but then I realized that anything associated with the Golden Door was not going to be anything that wasn’t safe. Francine presented the labyrinth in a way that was a safe container. So I decided to do a walk and use it as a meditation tool. My first experiences with it were of peace and before I left for home that first year I decided I wanted to do it one more time. At the time I was COO of a cable television company and I was covering a lot of bases for 50,000 subscribers. So I was very busy and had heavy duty time lines. When I was leaving the Golden Door for the airport I wanted to walk the labyrinth one more time, thinking I’d better hurry it up. As I ran up to walk, I kept looking at my watch. I was unable to let go of my monkey brain. After I walked and was coming out of the center of the labyrinth I realized that my focus on time had been keeping me from letting go and relaxing. I’m a very tactile and visual person and what the labyrinth gave me was a tactile way to slow my brain down. I was able to just be quiet, let go and listen, instead of constantly praying, asking and wishing, and seeing problems and giving orders. I was able to listen to what some of the answers were. This was very exciting for me. I felt that first week’s experience was very astounding for me.

I first met Lauren in the late 90’s when she gave a program at the Golden Door that I attended. We’ve been going to the Golden Door every year since. That inspired me to go Chartres in 2001 for the program that Lauren led. I had been to Chartres in the 80’s and saw the labyrinth. At that time it was covered with chairs which I didn’t think we could move. So going to Chartres in 2001 was wonderful. After that I went to Creative Leaps at Grace Cathedral. I then received Facilitator training in 2003.

I found the labyrinth to be such a valuable tool that in 2007 we dedicated a labyrinth here in Kearney, Nebraska. It’s a memorial labyrinth in a public park. 

Lauren gave us names of people who could get us started. They actually did the finish work and gave us guidelines that we followed. It’s a beautiful 42 foot labyrinth. It’s just amazing. I created a little booklet that explains the labyrinth and in the first summer we must have gone through 50 books. It’s in Yanney Park and the city takes care of it. It’s funded by the Yanney Heritage Park Foundation, which was created a by a family of immigrants who did well by the American ethic. There were 3 other people who worked with me on this: Pat Jones, local artist and labyrinth walker; Marcie Holmes who had a classical labyrinth in her back yard; and Lorna Lane. We contacted Tom Tye, President of the Foundation, and convinced him that we needed to put in the labyrinth. Tom then presented it to Mike Yanney, who said “let’s do this”. So from that point on we did it. We dedicated this labyrinth in October of 2007. At this point we usually do a walk at Marcy’s classical labyrinth on World Wide Labyrinth Day in May. We try to do one or two walks in the summer for Freedom or World peace. We do walks for passages, harvest and Thanksgiving. We also have a 32 ft. canvas labyrinth at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church where we do a special kind of walk on Holy Thursday with the Stations of the Cross. People come from all over and walk it then. We used to do it on New Year’s Eve but the last few years we’ve had blizzards and have been snowed out. 

I donate because we have to keep this particular path open. The labyrinth is very powerful. It crosses all civilizations, all barriers that mankind has put up in the name of religion. The labyrinth transcends all of that. We all have to live together here in harmony. Who knows what the future holds but this is what I use and what I support. I firmly believe in it.I have received very important and powerful answers through walking the labyrinth. For me, it is ultimately a meditation tool that helps me slow down with my tactile walking so that I can really let my heart and my spirit open up wide for a relationship with my God and receive answers. I think that there are a lot of people out there who need that. It’s worked so well for me that I just think that it’s something that needs to be taken all around the world, which it has been. I support Veriditas and Lauren in her work because you never know who the labyrinth will touch. It’s like the way a pebble tossed into a lake or stream ripples out. Very exciting! The labyrinth has kept me balanced, open and receptive. Lauren is a phenomenal person and a very special spirit on this earth. We are all God’s children and earth is His classroom. And the labyrinth is one of His tools that He likes to use the most.