On my second walk, before I entered the labyrinth I sensed the movement (though tiny) of the trees, which made me think about this saying, "樹欲靜而風不息，子欲養而親不在". It made me ponder a longer than expected while. When I thought about my unfulfilled responsibility to my parents. I felt a bit of ache when this came up.
I finally entered the "circle", and another thought came up as to the relationship with some people. I cannot but tell God I'm such a weak person, I don't have any great achievement. There are heaps and heaps for the Lord to cut and trim.
I walked and walked feeling more hopeless, suddenly I found myself seated at the centre of the labyrinth - it's the place to meet God. A usual verse came to me, "Have mercy on me, O Lord!" (Ps 86:3a). That's not special, as this is my favourite verse. Strangely though, I felt compelled to not just recite "a" verse or half a verse (to be exact), but to read the entire chapter which that verse comes from.
This is striking. It's very hard to forget this moment. I think time has stopped there, because I stopped my negative thinking after reading the entire chapter of Psalm 86. I was told God alone is God, there is no other. His work is wonderful, no one can fathom. He will show kindness to me, and He will hear my cry for help ...
Wow! How comforting and strengthening it is to hear God's voice this way!!!
This retreat proves very rewarding because I no longer just cling to that half verse (ie. 86:3a) for survival, but I got a whole chapter to read, reflect, chew on and draw strength from.
Ha .. Ha .. Ha .. Hallelujah, praise the Lord!
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