A Spiral of Light that Leads--Nowhere?

I recently encountered a blog that described an Advent service called "The Spiral of Light." This involved


"a darkened hall, a circle of children surrounded by a circle of adults, and surprising quiet. A tall teenager dressed in angel white slowly carries a candle through the simple labyrinth of pine boughs, to the center. She lights a candle, there, and emerges just as slowly, then follows the first child through the labyrinth. The child carries her own candle, set in an apple for a holder, and chooses a spot for her apple to set in the pine boughs, and returns to her seat while the next child makes the journey. Into the darkness, out with a light of her own, so goes each child, as a harp plays....One by one the third graders, second graders and first graders walk the spiral, then Mrs. Babcock walks quietly to Jamie, and he solemnly holds her hand and takes his candle to the center, taking his time to thoughtfully place his candle where it lights an amethyst cave, near the spiral’s center. When he walks back to sit with his dad, Miles sees Jamie coming and pulls an empty chair next to his own. Jamie’s face lights and he hops onto the tall chair, as Miles pulls him close in a hug.

“I got to be the last one,” he whispers, and everyone hears. “I got to be the last one.”

The musicians stop playing and we sit in silence, a spiral now lit by candles, faces of children visible in the glow. We file out quietly.

“Hey, Jamie,” I say when we are outside, kneeling to his eye level.

“I got to be the last one, you know,” he says.

“I saw it. How was it?” I ask.

“The last one,” he says again. “This is my candle.”

“Yes it is. You have a light,” I say, and wish him goodbye. I wish I were young enough to walk the spiral, too, to see what I might learn. I know there are labyrinths all over the world, for some similar reasons, to go to a center and return again. None are the same as this one, with these children and their friends, and their brothers and sisters.

The children hold their apples for the ride home, in the dark. We turn on the heat for the first time, in the car. Winter is here."

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Not sure of what this ceremony was intended to convey, I sent a comment to the blogger, hoping to better understand the purpose of the ceremony, the message that was intended to be conveyed. The response I received included the following:

"The Spiral of Light is actually a Waldorf School celebration, not intended by the school to be Christian in nature. The Waldorf school "says" nothing, but lets the experience speaks for itself...The Waldorf stuff is meaningful in a metaphoric way."

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I don't mean to pick on the person whose blog this is, a woman who clearly articulates a strong Christian faith. But is it possible that the wonders and mysteries of an experience like "The Spiral of Light" can become a substitute for the truth of our faith? Will first through third graders be able to link this "mystical" experience to the message of the Incarnation of the true Light of the World? In the end, this ceremony just doesn't seem to have any purpose or meaning, and it seems a wonderful teaching moment was lost when Jamie gets such a prosaic answer; "“Yes it is. You have a light,” I say, and wish him goodbye."

"You have a light"? That's all? No discussion about what the Light of the World could mean for this child? At first I thought, well, at least a solemn ceremony is better than an afternoon standing in line waiting to tell Santa what you want him to bring, but the more I reflect, I am not so sure there is much difference. Both events seem to end in emptiness of soul, without anything to help the child come closer to the great joy that can come from seeing the sacrifice, mercy, and love the Incarnation has brought.