I learned about the Quiet Garden Ministry in the fall of 2000 while accompanying my husband on a business trip. While he presented seminars during the day, I caught trains to sometimes remote spots bearing labyrinths and mazes. In Glastonbury I happened across a small door in a wall which led into a quaint meeting space and an intimate garden--a Quiet Garden spot. I picked up a brochure, immediately knowing that I wanted to belong. I had finished building a labyrinth in our back yard a little over a year earlier with the sense of offering sacred space for walking our prayers for peace in the world.

I often scold myself for not keeping up with the gardens better. The waterfall to the pond leaks and we didn't get it fixed this summer. It's a daunting job--removing hundreds of rocks I have collected in my travels. The woodchucks have burrowed holes under the labyrinth, and the weeds - well, you gardeners know their incessant invasion! But for eight years folks have walked the labyrinth, strolled in the garden and sat by the pond, meditating, praying, reflecting, grieving and rejoicing, sometimes as a part of an event, other times as strangers just to settle and be.

What a gift it has been and oh, the stories that are told. I try to walk daily - and it shows when I haven't! What a privilege to offer a space for healing, for hope, for dreaming, for bringing peace to our planet.

If you are thinking about it, I'll nudge you a little closer. You will receive more than you give. I have.