It had been a fun weekend retreat with friends, a get away from life, and a time of reflection and inspiration. The final morning was to be a wrap up "ceremony" but unknown to me, it was to be held at a mountainside labyrinth. As we approached this area, I was intrigued and yet uneasy. When our host, Sue asked us to step inside the circle of rocks, I complied. Immediately, my heart started pounding rapidly. As she began describing what we were going to do, including praying to seven different things, like the trees, the east, the west, etc., my uneasiness grew. Then when she described how we were going to make an offering, my heart was pounding so hard I thought I might pass out. This was completely against my Christian faith and there was no way I could participate. It would be an offense against God to pray or make an offering to anyone or anything but Him.

As Sue passed the offering around the group, she paused in front of me, inviting me to take the grain. "I'm sorry," I said, "but as a Christian, this is something I can't participate in. I only pray and make offerings to God, the Creator of the trees, the east, the west." Quietly she moved on. Then Sue began praying and without any thought or plan, I began quietly praying aloud to God. It was as if a defense rose up to what I was now feeling was a spiritual assault. Within seconds, Sue paused and told me I was distracting her and asked me to move away. I apologized and said I would pray quieter but even then, she couldn't continue praying and asked me to leave. I felt torn between fleeing vs. staying close and standing my ground while praying for the others who clearly didn't understand what they were participating in. I decided to step out of the circle and move away from the group while continuing to pray. The moment my feet were outside of the circle of rocks, my racing heart immediately quieted.

It was such a dramatic physical change that I couldn't help but think of Jonah in the Bible. When Jonah tried to run away from God, he boarded a ship only to have God create a terrible storm. Once the crew threw Jonah overboard, the storm immediately quieted down (Jonah 1:15). I had just had my own storm experience. When I was outside of God's will, my heart was pounding a warning. But the moment I heeded the warning and stepped away from the occult and toward God, the storm in my heart calmed.

As I quietly prayed at a distance, I felt such sadness for those who remained. To them, this labyrinth experience probably seemed harmless. But to me, it was a bit like watching innocent lambs being led to slaughter, unaware that this was an offense against God. It's that tiny one degree step off the path to a destination that can slowly take us in the wrong direction, in a direction away from the one true God.

As the "ceremony" concluded, we said our goodbyes and headed home. In the quiet of the car, lost in the sadness of what had just occurred, God gave me an amazing thought. The darkness can never extinguish the light but even a tiny candle light brought into the dark will dissipate the darkness. Christ is the light of the world. The parallel was obvious. Even though Sue's prayers did not keep me from praying, the moment I began praying, Sue couldn't continue. She was distracted to the point of having to ask me to leave. What an amazing picture God had given me. Once Christ's presence had entered, the darkness of the enemy couldn't continue.

Reflecting on the labyrinth experience, although it was very uncomfortable, I'm glad I witnessed it. It gave me an awareness of the subtle ways the enemy is at work in our world and served as a warning to be alert. And perhaps, by taking a stand, the others will question why and seek answers. As we war for righteousness in a culture which seems to be turning away from God, we all need to be careful to not be quietly led astray by what seems innocent. The true test is: if it doesn't honor God, then it is not of God, thus we don't want anything to do with it. "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8. And his methods might be very subtle, like a quiet mountainside labyrinth.