Solstice Labyrinth Walk Draws Community to the Center

A vision for light in the night led one First Parish family to create an event that gathered almost a hundred friends and community members to walk the Labyrinth in the Woods on the night of December 21st, the winter solstice.

Sarah Rodgers, a First Parish member, shared her family’s tradition of a solstice candle-light walk with the church and its partner in the Labyrinth, the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust. Her idea quickly developed to invite families and neighbors to walk together through the longest night. Lanterns were crafted, cocoa was made,  and the labyrinth’s path was carved into the recent snowfall to welcome walkers of all ages.

After an introduction by Sarah, First Parish, and Land Trust leaders, a line of lanterns stretched into the woods, and then began to wind its way through the labyrinth’s circuits. As the walk concluded, participants circled the path, singing a new version of This Little Light of Mine, which ended with this verse:

If your candle goes out
I’m gonna lend you mine…
Then we’ll shine, then we’ll shine, then we’ll shine…