Walking A Sacred Path
Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Path
by The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress
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Discernment, pg. 165
You become the inner inventor of
your own joy. The whole of your life becomes a way of helping yourself
by innumerable means to enter your deep Self."
But how does one find enough peace within to learn the wisdom of the inner pharmacist who knows how to choose the right vial, the sitarist who knows how to pluck the right string? There is a long way between these two understandings of discernment. When people have plummeted to their spiritual depths, a source of guidance is often needed—a spiritual director, a pastor, a therapist. We cannot travel the journey of Spirit alone. Only people who have mastered the white water of the Spirit can become their own pharmacist of bliss. But that is the ideal for all of us.
Discernment is an important element of the labyrinth experience that cannot be overlooked. Literally thousands of people have waited the labyrinth, in psychically and spiritually challenging environments such as all-night cathedral events. No negative psychological or spiritual upheaval has occurred. The labyrinth has worked only to deepen the insight of the people under stress. The labyrinth is safe territory for many who feel they are unraveling at the seams; it is a place to order chaos and calm the frightened heart.
A therapist came to the labyrinth one night because one of her clients had walked the labyrinth and found great stability and clarity. He had been suicidal and refused medication. As he walked, he experienced a breakthrough that led him off the shaky ground of thinking about taking his own life. In the next session, the client told her of his experience.
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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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