The Lenten Labyrinth

by Edward Hays

The journeys of Lent and of life are seldom straight roads, but are usually like complicated mazes or labyrinths. While we often can feel lost along the complex twisting patterns of the labyrinth path, to travel the maze of the Way is the greatest of all adventures. This guidebook of daily reflections for this journey of transformation has the power to change "to radically enrich" our way of thinking, loving and believing. Each day's reflection-which takes but a few minutes to read-is followed by brief questions/exercises aimed at inspiring personal implications. Short of time? A few minutes daily with Father Hays can nourish a hungry soul for 24 hours. Both books of daily Lenten reflections-The Ascent of the Mountain of God and The Lenten Labyrinth-maximize our limited resources of time, making our journey through Lent into the heart of Holy Week a time of real renewal.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy observing Lent and always look for a "program" to follow during the season. This book, with it's title The Lenten Labyrinth, totally drew me, as a labyrinth lover. I loved the idea of having a little spiritual read for every day.
There are some nice insights, ideas and gems in this book. But the writing is far from luminous, which, I guess is what I desire in this holy season. What jarred me from the very beginning is Hays' conflation of the words "maze" and "labyrinth." If you're going to write a book using the labyrinth as a symbol and teaching guide, you should really know what a labyrinth is, and Hays does not know what a labyrinth is.
Even with this jarring problem, I kept reading every day. It was a short daily read. There were some nice thoughts. For example, I really enjoyed his pointing out that Santa Fe means Holy Faith and the fact that it is emblazoned on trains through the Western United States, blazing across the country, was really nice.
But Hays completely lost me on the Fourth Saturday of Lent when he stared using the practice of enemas as a spiritual tool. That was a bridge too far. I could not continue. Thus, this book goes on to my partial read shelf.
I gave the book 2 stars because I do want to recognize Edward Hays for actually working out his faith in a way that is effective for him and taking the time to write his experience and share it. That, itself, is inspiring. And I'm sure that writing this book uplifted and strengthened him and as well as others. It's a beautiful win for him. But it was a "meh" for me.

[Mary Nuttelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lenten readings with an accessible, optimistic feel.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the day's readings are better than others, and it took a while before I hit any that really resonated with me, but there's some interesting food for thought. I also really like that it uses themes from the Sunday's lectionary reading in the reflections throughout the week.