Labyrinth
In colloquial English, labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze, but many contemporary scholars observe a distinction between the two: maze refers to a complex branching (multicursal) puzzle with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal) labyrinth has only a single, non-branching path, which leads to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.
As the designs became more elaborate, visual depictions of the Labyrinth from Roman times until the Renaissance are almost invariably unicursal. Branching mazes were reintroduced only when garden mazes became popular during the Renaissance.
Labyrinths appeared as designs on pottery or basketry, as body art, and in etchings on walls of caves or churches. The Romans created many primarily decorative labyrinth designs on walls and floors in tile or mosaic. Many labyrinths set in floors or on the ground are large enough that the path can be walked. They have been used historically both in group ritual and for private meditation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth
Prayer Garden
The Chapel of St. Basil is a chapel on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX, designed by Philip Johnson. During the 2005-2006 school year, a prayer garden was built on the west side of the chapel. The centerpiece of the garden is a labyrinth, surrounded by plants and bushes. Surrounding the plants and bushes is a gravel walkway rimmed by crepe myrtles. The North end of the prayer garden features three fountains, representative of the Trinity, and four benches mark the corners of the prayer garden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_of_St._Basil#Prayer_Garden
National Cathedral
The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, under the first seven Bishops of Washington, erected the Washington National Cathedral under a charter passed by the United States Congress on January 6, 1893. Construction began on September 29, 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and a crowd of more than 20,000, and ended 83 years later when the last finial was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. Congress has designated the Washington National Cathedral as the “National House of Prayer”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_National_Cathedral
Shady Grove Adventist Hospital
When the hospital admitted its first patient in December 1979, it was located in a “rural” part of Montgomery County, surrounded by fields. With some 2,100 employees, 1,200 Medical Staff and Allied Health Professionals, and 800 volunteers today, Shady Grove delivers over 5,000 babies, treats more than 108,000 emergency patients, at its main Rockville and Germantown emergency locations, and cares for more than 26,000 inpatients each year. In 2009, the hospital completed a four-year $100 million expansion and renovation project with an expanded NICU and new Pediatric Emergency Department and an expanded state-of-the-art Surgical Services area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shady_Grove_Adventist_Hospital
“At Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, we are committed to caring for the whole person,” said Dennis Hansen, President of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. “The Healing Garden demonstrates our commitment to caring for not only the physical, but also the spiritual and mental needs of the community.” The Barbara Truland-Butz Healing Garden at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital was awarded a Merit Award in the 19th Annual Professional Awards Program by the Maryland and Potomac Chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
My Comments
I have been to the National Cathedral and walked the labyrinth there. During my stay at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, I enjoyed walking in the Healing Garden. There are plans for a possible prayer, healing or peace garden at my church. A labyrinth could be part of the design.
David Robert Lambert 