In the trajectory of a lifetime this turning toward personal integrity happens not once but many times. All are important. Much in life distracts us from our true nature, captures the self in bonds of greed, desire, numbness, unconsciousness and drama. These bonds seem strong and unavoidable. But every initiation, no matter to whom and how it occurs, is evidence that the soul is stronger than all that and can draw us toward itself, despite all.
Every initiation is a message of grace and bears witness to the possibility of freedom.
Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. is Assistant Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at U.C.S.F. Medical School and co-founder and medical director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program.