One Body, Many Feet

Dear Empowered Wayers:For one breathtaking moment, I saw through God’s eyes.Ten people walking a painted labyrinth on a gym floor, and suddenly they weren’t separate anymore—instead, there was one body of consciousness, walking on many feet. It took my breath away, and I understood something about Divine Love I’d never seen before.This moment came at the end of a year-long journey of transformation, but I had no idea it was waiting for me.The Year That Changed EverythingI just finished a year-long cohort called “The Enneagram and Contemplative Practices.” We met once a quarter for 2 1/2 days, learning the subtleties of the Enneagram from Hunter Mobley, and various contemplative practices from Rev. Joseph Stabille, co-founder of Life in the Trinity Ministries.The best way to describe the transformation I experienced is to use the metaphor of the labyrinth itself.What is the Labyrinth?A labyrinth is not a maze. It is a walking meditation on a prescribed path that leads you to the center, where God, the holy of holies, waits for you.For centuries, the labyrinth has been part of the pilgrim’s journey to remember a closer relationship with God. The labyrinth is a metaphor of life—winding, turning back on itself, bringing you face to face with others on the path, always leading you deeper toward the center where Divine Love waits.Unlike a maze designed to confuse and trap you, a labyrinth has no dead ends or wrong turns. Just the path itself, inviting you inward.The Labyrinth as a Metaphor for LifeThe labyrinth is a metaphor for life—winding, turning back on itself, bringing you face to face with others on the path, always leading you deeper toward the center where Divine Love waits. Sometimes the path takes you so close to the center you can almost touch it, and then it curves away again, leading you to the outer edges. You think you’re going backward, losing ground, but you’re not. Every turn is necessary. Every seeming detour is actually the way forward. And unlike life’s illusion of endless choices and distractions, the labyrinth reveals the truth: there is only one path, and it always leads you home.What Happened As We WalkedDuring our last day of the cohort, we drove to a church who allowed us to walk the labyrinth painted on the gym floor.I stepped onto the path carrying the weight of the year—all I had learned about myself, the limiting patterns I’d discovered, the ways I’d been hiding from my own truth. The labyrinth accepted it all.One foot in front of the other. Turn. Walk in contemplation. Pause and turn again. Repeating the pattern and feeling a bit uncertain because it never felt I was moving forward toward a destination.The path curved back on itself. I passed people I’d spent the year with, our shoulders nearly touching in the narrow passages. Sometimes I led. Sometimes I followed. Sometimes we stood facing each other, waiting for space to move forward.After we walked the labyrinth, we pulled our chairs in a loose circle and shared our experience.Some of the comments were:“I kept passing you and seeing you new for the first time.”“I walked in with a question and I knew the answer in the center.”“I have never walked a labyrinth with a group as connected as this one.”It was that last comment that sparked my reflection for this article.The Vision That Changed EverythingAfter I finished my walk in the labyrinth, I sat in contemplation and communion with God. When I opened my eyes, there were still about ten people walking.From my perspective, each person was having their own experience, pausing at the turns, moving sideways when it was too crowded, standing in the center in worship or prayer.Then it happened.I saw them from God’s perspective for a brief instant.One body of consciousness, walking on many feet.It took my breath away.Each person separate in their bodies and joined in the spirit of community.Each person looking from different perspectives and meeting God.Each person lifting their problems, conflicts, and separateness to join as one.What Divine Love SeesIn that moment, I understood something I had only known intellectually before: Separation is the illusion. Unity is the truth.We think we’re walking alone. We think our struggles are ours alone to carry, our questions ours alone to answer, our path uniquely solitary.But Divine Love sees differently.Divine Love sees one body, walking on many feet. One consciousness, experiencing itself through countless perspectives. One journey, with infinite expressions.The labyrinth revealed what has always been true—we are not separate from each other, or from God, or from the Divine Love that holds us all.We only think we are.The Same Path, Different ViewsWhat struck me most was how each person’s experience was completely unique and yet part of the same journey.One person kept meeting others face to face, seeing them anew each time their paths crossed. Another walked in with confusion and found clarity at the center. Someone else felt the unprecedented connection of our particular group.Different experiences. Different perspectives. Different questions and answers.And yet—the same path. The same center. The same Divine Love waiting to meet each one exactly where they were.This is how it works in life, too.You’re walking your path, carrying your specific struggles and questions. I’m walking mine. She’s walking hers.We think we’re separate because we can’t see what the other person sees from where they stand on the path. We judge their choices because we don’t understand their perspective or their back story. We feel alone because we’ve forgotten we’re all walking toward the same center.But from God’s perspective? One body. Many feet. All moving toward Love.Why This Matters NowI keep thinking about that vision—one body of consciousness—and how desperately we need to remember this truth right now.The world feels fractured and divided. Everyone shouting their perspective, defending their position, certain they’re right and everyone else is wrong.But what if we’re all just standing at different points on the same labyrinth?What if your truth and my truth aren’t contradictions, but different views from different turns on the path?What if the person walking toward you, the one whose perspective makes no sense from where you stand, is simply seeing from a different angle of the same journey?This doesn’t mean all perspectives are equally true or that there’s no such thing as truth. It means that Divine Love is big enough to hold us all—even when we can’t see how.Especially when we can’t see how.The Practice of Seeing DifferentlySince that day on the labyrinth, I’ve been practicing something new.When I encounter someone whose perspective baffles or frustrates me, I pause. I breathe. I ask: “What does Divine Love see right now?”Not what do I see. Not what should they see. But what does Love see?And almost always, the answer is the same: * Love sees one body, temporarily forgetting it’s one body.* Love sees souls on a path, each carrying something heavy, each looking for the center, each doing their best from where they stand.* Love sees what I saw that day on the labyrinth—the beautiful, messy, sacred truth that we are not separate, even when we feel utterly alone.Your InvitationYou don’t need to walk a labyrinth to experience this truth, though I highly recommend it.You just need to be willing to see differently.The next time you feel separate—from others, from God, from yourself—pause. Breathe. Ask Love to show you what’s really true.You might be surprised by what you see.One body of consciousness, walking on many feet.It’s always been true. We just keep forgetting to look.To your presence,KathrynEmpowered Way is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.P.S. If you want to experience the kind of contemplative practice that led to this vision, my meditation “The Astonishing Light of Your Being” is free on Insight Timer (please like and follow me). And my newest course, “Empowered Wealth Consciousness,” takes you on a 7-day meditative journey to remember your unity with Divine abundance. Both are pathways back to remembering who you really are—not separate, but whole. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit empoweredway.substack.com