Walking A Sacred Path
Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Path
by The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress
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The Great-grandmother's Thread, pg. 12
As I searched for a way to describe what walking the labyrinth can mean, literally and metaphorically, I remembered George Macdonald's fairy tale The Princess and the Goblin. A young princess is sent away from her father's kingdom, away from the world, to a castle of supposed safety. She begins to explore her new home and encounters an old woman spinning thread in the tower. The woman introduces herself as the princess' great-grandmother. She tells the princess that she has awaited her for years. In time, the great-grandmother gives the princess a ring to which she attaches an invisible thread. This thread, the great-grandmother tells the princess, will guide her through the challenges she meets in life. The child is disappointed in her gift because she cannot see the thread or the ball that it comes from, which remains with the great-grandmother.
This fairy tale captures a glimpse of what it is like to walk a sacred path. By following an invisible thread we connect to the Source, to the Sacred. We can't see it, and yet some deep part of us knows it is there. This innate awareness gives us solace and peace during stormy times. But it is difficult to find at first, even difficult to believe. To walk a sacred path is to know and trust that there is guidance to help us live our lives on this planet.
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Excerpts from Walking A Sacred Path ©1995 by Dr. Lauren Artress used with permission from the author. To purchase a copy of Walking a Sacred Path, visit the non-profit bookstore Sacred Path Books & Art. This link is provided as a service to explorefaith.org visitors and registered users.
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