Favorite fresh snow activity: making a labyrinth

The Midwest is getting pounded with a storm dub'd the snowmageddon or snowpocalypse of 2010.  And while most folks are kvetching about not being able to attend concerts, parties and shop, I love this opportunity to slow down by stomping a classical labyrinth in the church yard beside my house. 

(If don't know what a labyrinth is or how to use one, check http://labyrinthsociety.org/ for a good place to start. And if you're looking for a labyrinth in your neck of the woods (or desert) search the http://labyrinthlocator.com/.)

There's lots of directions on the internet about how to draw the boundaries for a labyrinth (here's my favorite:   http://www.lessons4living.com/drawing.htm) and not so many on how to create the path.  Where snow is plentiful, a path is all you need.  A few tips before you start:

• There are two types of steps to make.  When WALKing to make a path or connecting rings, feel free to drag your feet.  Other times you will need to take care and raise your feet high to not disturb the snow as you move between rings.  I refer to this as STEPping. 
• A labyrinth is always off-center and is, in other words, not symmetrical.   It is very close to being a mirror, but is not.  If it was exactly the same on both sides you would have unconnected parallel circles.  And not a path leading to the center.  Feel free to ruminate on why that is and it's metaphor on life.  :)
• I tried to color code the steps in a rainbow fashion, but yellow does not show up very well and red and orange looked the same.  So the steps are not exactly in ROY G. BIV order, but enough they should be easy to remember.

1. First steps are in BLACK:  WALK towards the center of the space where you are working.  STOP before you reach the center and take a BIG STEP.  This is your center.  STOMP a space twice as big as you.  I like to say a quick invocation of this activity before moving on.
2. Next make 7 half rings.  These steps are in RED-ORANGE:  If your steps toward the center are pointing "north" on a compass, these half rings start and end on the east and west axis.  Take nice big steps between the rings!  If you get too close to your previous ring the path may become unclear.  It's better to err on being too wide though then you run the risk of making it bigger than the space you have.  Nice thing about snow (at least in the Midwest) is it melts or you get more snow you can practice!
3. This step is the trickiest because of the possibility of making closed loops. Here's how to avoid that.  Go back to the center and step into the first path to the "west" (really you can pick either side, but for the purposes of this demo, I'll stick with what's happening in the drawing).  Now WALK to the second ring.  STEP INTO the third ring and WALK around the turn you just created towards the center.  First half is easy -- here's where we have to be careful about keeping the loops open.  STEP back to the center and to the second ring on the "east" axis.  WALK from the second to the third ring.  STEP INTO the fourth ring and walk around the other path to connect with the first ring.  This is the YELLOW-ORANGE turns in the diagram.
4. GREEN paths next!  For the remaining unconnected rings (four on the "west" axis and three on the "east"), make quarter arcs starting from the ring closest to the center and moving out. 
5. The BLUE turns are similarly to the orange-yellow turns in Step 3.  Take note which side has four unconnected rings and which has three.  Go to the "west" side with four rings and stand in the sixth.  WALK and connect it to the fifth.  STEP INTO the forth ring and WALK to the seventh.  Celebrate!  Half of the labyrinth is complete!  Trot over to the "east" side of the seventh ring.  WALK and connect the seventh ring to the sixth. 
6. To finish off your snow labyrinth, STEP INTO the fifth ring that is not yet connected and WALK to the path you made when you started the labyrinth (PURPLE). 

Your Classical labyrinth is now complete!  Congrats!

I can complete a snow labyrinth in about 10-15 minutes depending on the snow depth and heft.  My first one took much longer because I "drew" the boundaries in blue and green water, which I soon realized was unnecessary.  If you used these directions to create a snow labyrinth, please let me know!

Blessings!

My Hospice Choir & the Great Minnesota Give Together

Some of you readers know I am a member of Morning Star Singers (MSS), a group of volunteers who visit folks in fragile condition to share songs with them.  I've written about them once before and have been meaning to share more stories and insights from these sings, but haven't because life decides I have other things to do. 

One of those other things I've been doing lately is planning to lead a hospice choir of my own.  Not that I'm leaving the MSS, but expanding upon the work Barbara has started.  Barbara McAfee founded MSS with the idea that there would be subsets of singers that would cover "territories" of the Metro.  Although I'm not exactly organizing the Southern-Northeast region, I am hoping to create a model that is sustainable and decreases singer burnout by partnering with a hospice agency.  Interested in joining?  Watch for more details in a future blog article.

Today is Tue, Nov 16, 2010.  It is also known as "Give to the Max Day" by non-profits around Minnesota.  I and my business name, Points of Light Music, have partnered with Springboard for the Arts, a non-profit organization that supports artists startups.  With Springboard as my fiscal sponsor you can now make tax-deductible donations to this hospice choir project.  Would you consider contributing to this project?  A $10 donation will help create a songbook for singers.  $100 will provide the means to bring comforting, soothing songs to 3-4 people in fragile physical, and emotional condition.  The button to the right will take you to my giving site. 

There are two added incentives to give today.  One is GiveMN.org, the organization that has designed the online giving platform and today's "Great Minnesota Give Together" is holding hourly "Golden Ticket" contests where a donor is selected every hour and $1,000 is added to their donation.  What a cool and generous match to make if one of you is selected!  Second is Springboard is waiving the 2.9% administrative fee for all GiveMN.org contributions made today.  It may seem small, $.29 for a $10 donation, but when the goals is to raise $5,000, that is $145 more for this project.  A little bit builds up over time.

If you prefer to send a check via USPS, please let me know and I'll give you the details on how to do that. 

I am so appreciative for all your encouraging words and whatever financial support you determine is right for you.  I know this Thanksgiving I will be especially grateful for the opportunity to do this work. 

With blessings of abundant joy, laughter, hope and songs (of course!) for your life and of those around you.

Cheers, Conie

Call for new verses: Balm in Gilead

I love singing ...

"There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole. 
There is a balm in Gilead
to heal the sin-sick soul."

There's something very soothing about the opening notes.  Like the oscillating imitates the movement of a hand on a back that needs comforting.  Or perhaps it brings back memories of having Mother rubbing Vicks on your chest, a real balm to help one breathe in the throes of a cold. 

I imagine the African American slaves who heard and sang this spiritual were heartened by it.  That they'll be made whole and that those who have treated them harshly would be healed of whatever causes them to be that way.  This sentiment is still relevent to the struggles of today.  At least for those who are able to wish all people peace. 

There are two verses typically associated with the spiritual which Wikipedia lists.  They're encouraging even when honest about the challenges that confront us daily. 

Is it selfish to want more?  I want to hear more stories about those who have overcome abusive power struggles.  It is these stories that give hope.  And so many need hope.  I'm wondering if intrepid poets, hymnwriters and accidental wordsmiths have written more verses.  Or would like the challenge to pen some verses.  Are you up for the challenge?  Or can you think of a friend who would be perfect? 

If you're up to the call, copy those verses into a comment below or drop me an email at pointsoflightmusic@gmail.com.  They may be used in worship services, but I promise to let you know we used it and acknowledged you on the reprints. 

Blessings! 

Seeking spiritual-religious songs from popular scene

I love my new church job.  It is at an open and welcoming congregation of "kind, unpretentious people trying to live gratefully in response to God’s many gifts" (per their website). By my interactions over the last two months, I can say honestly "they are who they say they are."  Gotta love it.

One of my tasks as the Music Director for their new Progressive Service is to seek out music that doesn't typically find itself in the worship service, but whose words resonates with a meaningful spiritual life.  How cool, right?!?  I thought so too. 

Want to join my fun in looking for such songs?  I'd love to have you along for the ride -- there's millions of songs on this planet and I only have two ears.  In particular, I'm looking for songs that fit into one of the themes for the year:

• Advent Conspiracy
• Marriage Equality & Full Inclusion
• Haiti
• Reconciliation (during Lent)
• Being Green & Earth-friendliness

Leave the title and/or artist of a song or YouTube link in a comment under this post.  From time to time, I'll share some of what I find too. 

Blessings!