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P.
went downstairs and avoided joining his friends
of the previous day who were noisily going in to breakfast. He stepped
outside
into a rather dull overcast day, intending to make his way across the
lawn
to the bridge. But he came face to face with the wolf and he was
afraid, very afraid. His mouth went dry, a tightness came to his chest
and he was
mentally paralysed. A voice in his head said: Do not be afraid, so he made
himself look the wolf in the eye. This time it
was guarding a different entrance, but no
not guarding. In a way that
only
animals can, with face and body language, the wolf encouraged him to
take the entrance to what turned
out to be a labyrinth. Walking tentatively past the animal, and holding
his
breath, he came to a low gate and the voice in his head said Pause
Pilgrim, Read and then come in.
Was
this the way to approach HMG? Well it began with the Commandments of
Jesus
which he thought he knew very well and then proceeded to count
backwards
through the Ten Commanments. To P. they were a bit "Old Hat". In the
liturgical
services he attended they were always replaced by "The Summary of the
law".
But now he began to see them in a new light as he tried to answer the
questions
posed at each gate he came upon. Later he would make a computerised
version of the labyrinth:
It was midday by the time P.
reached the centre of the Labyrinth. HMG
was not there, but His Spirit was and P was given a word of tongues. Ykwerry Boo was the closest
he could get to it, when later he tried to write it down, but he had no
doubt about what it meant: I Treasure You.
P dropped to his knees in tears this was HMG speeking directly to him.
Soon he was able to decline the phrase in all sorts of ways, the most
important of which was reversing the subject and object so that
he used it to treasure God; but then, also, to review a list of people
whom he had wronged or misused during his life and to gain
healing for them and forgiveness for himself. Then before him appeared
an old man a rather sad looking old man. He was muttering some words
which P found vaguely familiar. All
will be well, all manner of things will be well. Then the man
smiled and said Can I help you my
son? P blurted out How can I
approach HMG, before he had thought what to say. Ah
said the man and seemed to look right through him, so much so that P
turned round and looked into the distance. There was a great glow on
the horizon which grew as he looked, not the sun but a more diffuse
though much brighter light.
Approach Him who dwells in unapproachable light? mused the man
and began to hum a familiar hymn.
I'm afraid we
cannot go further
yet. Many are called but few are
chosen. P remembered that phrase too and realised perhaps for
the first time that he had no idea what it meant. What
it means is not the right question, said the man,
answering his thoughts, but rather What does it mean for you now?
It means that we cannot go further into the presence of God before we
die. Only very few saints can do that, not from any merit of their own,
as they would be quick to say but because the Lord chooses it so.
P. began to think his journey had been wasted. No not wasted, you have
seen many things and glimpsed others. Now it is time for you to go home
and continue to serve your Lord in your everyday life.
And the old man
now revealed as a bishop blessed Pilgrim in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He then elaborated on what he had
said in the form of a sermon. P could hear it in his head as he
retraced his steps and thought to himself: I know why he is a Bishop, there was a
holiness about him.
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