Bucknell University Farm, LewisburgWalking a labyrinth isn’t about getting lost, says the Rev. Kurt Nelson, Bucknell’s director of religious & spiritual life, it’s about finding something within yourself.
“It’s meant to be meditative practice of movement,” Nelson says. “The goal is simply to find your natural pace as you follow a single pathway toward the center, and then follow the same path back out.”
Through a collaborative campus effort, Bucknellians now have a chance to explore the switchbacking pathways of a labyrinth.
What They Did
In June, Nelson and Bucknell’s Office of Civic Engagement enlisted volunteers to construct a labyrinth at the Bucknell University Farm from natural recycled material, working in 30-minute shifts to maintain physical distance. With mulch and stumps culled from campus tree pruning, they laid down five cycles that led travelers back and forth inside a circle roughly 36 feet in diameter.
What He Loves
While they’re representations of pilgrimage in the Christian tradition, Nelson notes that labyrinths are “cross-cultural symbols” that abound in the ancient world, from Mesopotamia to Scandinavia to the American Southwest. He appreciates that the construction of the farm labyrinth also united individuals from across the Bucknell community.
“From its conception the farm has been an endeavor to help people connect with land and food and the community, so this was really a natural partnership,” he says.
— Matt Hughes
