I watched from outside the labyrinth as our 3SI interns walked its path together—each in a different place and moving at a different pace. As the last light faded and darkness settled over the landscape, a few people switched on their flashlights. The beams illuminated the path at their feet, but they also provided enough light to help guide others.
Wonder gripped my heart. Words and images began filling my mind: walking, together, darkness, a lamp unto my feet, a common path, different paces, guidance.
As I walked back to my cabin beneath the night sky, I was filled with awe, even though I did not yet know where the experience would lead me.
This happened during our 3 Streams Institute intern retreat, when we practiced walking a labyrinth together. For those unfamiliar with the practice, a labyrinth is not a maze:
“A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is a symbol of life without meaning; it is an agent of confusion, deception, with dead ends that lead you nowhere. But a labyrinth is a symbol of a life of deeper meaning, an ongoing sacred journey leading us inward, outward, and to greater wholeness.” —Carrie Newcomer
A labyrinth has one path leading to the center and back out again. Walking it invites us to slow down, relinquish the need to determine our own direction, and become attentive to God. We enter aware of God’s presence, pause at the center in communion with God, and return to ordinary life accompanied by the One who has been with us all along.
I had walked labyrinths before, but always alone. This time, the presence of our interns transformed the practice. It became a picture of the kind of formation we hope to cultivate through 3SI: rooted in the Gospel, alive in the Spirit, formed by the liturgy—and never formed alone.
Here are three things the experience showed me.
A Common Path, Walked at Different Paces
As children of God, we have been invited onto a common path: trusting God’s Word, following Jesus, listening to the Spirit, praying, worshiping, and learning to recognize God’s presence in every part of life.
Like the path of the labyrinth, this way has a clear entrance and boundaries. We do not create the path for ourselves; we receive it as a gift. God provides the guidance we need and accompanies us on the very journey to which God calls us. What good news.
And yet, we do not all walk at the same pace.
Each person entered the labyrinth at a different moment. Some walked quickly, while others moved slowly. At times, people passed one another. Sometimes someone appeared to lag behind. People walking in opposite directions came close for a moment before the path carried them apart again.
The same is true in Christian formation. We share one Gospel and follow one Lord, but each person’s formation unfolds differently. Some are discerning a call to ministry; others are learning to lead. Some are taking courageous steps forward; others need time to listen, heal, or wait. In a healthy formation community, we do not demand identical pacing. We remain committed to the common path while honoring the particular work God is doing in each person.
One Person’s Light Becomes Light for Others
As twilight gave way to darkness, something beautiful happened. Everyone had brought a flashlight, but not everyone needed to turn theirs on. When one or two people illuminated the path, their light also helped others find their footing.
They shared light with one another.
Walking through darkness can give us a kind of spiritual amnesia. We forget who God is, who we are in Christ, and what kind of journey we are walking. In those moments, we need others to help us remember—to turn on the light, so to speak, and speak the truth again.
God’s Word is always a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Yet God often allows that light to reach us through another member of the body of Christ. Someone else’s faithfulness, courage, prayer, or clear sight can illuminate our next step.
This is part of our vision for 3SI. Formation is not simply the transfer of information from an expert to a student. It happens as we share life, ask questions, practice ministry, take appropriate risks, make mistakes, offer encouragement, receive correction, and remind one another of what is true.
Sometimes we carry the light for another person. Sometimes another person carries it for us.
Guidance and Community in the Dark
God is our ultimate guide, but we also learn by watching how others navigate the path.
From outside the labyrinth, I could see turns that those inside it could not yet see. Those walking could look toward people ahead of them and gain a sense of how they might approach the next curve. Each person still had to walk the path personally, but no one was walking it in complete isolation.
Much of pastoral formation feels like walking in partial light. “Walking in twilight” a friend of 3SI calls it. We rarely see the entire path ahead. Residents, apprentices, and interns must make real decisions, care for real people, and step into genuine responsibility without knowing everything they will eventually know.
This is why 3SI describes Wellspring as a teaching hospital. Emerging leaders learn alongside experienced practitioners. They watch ministry up close, ask why decisions were made, attempt meaningful work, and reflect on what happened. They receive both high challenge and high support as they grow in character, competence, and calling.
There are parts of the journey each person must walk personally. No one else can discern our calling, practice obedience, or surrender to God on our behalf. But personal does not have to mean solitary.
We have companions ahead of us who can show us something about the coming turns. We have companions behind us who may benefit from the light we carry. And we have companions beside us who remind us that, even when the way feels unclear, we are still walking together.
We walk a common path at different paces. We receive and share light. We learn from those ahead of us and encourage those coming behind.
And through it all, God is present—leading us inward, sending us outward, and forming us together into the likeness of Christ.
