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PROLOGUE

We used to sit until late at night in a cafe in Lourdes I was a pilgrim on the sacred Road of Rome and still had many more days to travel in search of e of a certain stretch of that road

On one such night, I asked if she re felt especially moved when she arrived at a particular abbey that forms part of the star-shaped trail followed by Initiates in the Pyrenees

"I've never been there," she replied

I was surprised She did, after all, have a Gift

"All roads lead to Ro an old proverb to tell me that Gifts could be awoken anywhere "I walked my Road to Rome in Ireland"

During our subsequent s, she told me the story of her search When she finished, I asked if, one day, I could write it down

She agreed initially, but whenever weobstacles She asked e the names of those involved; she wanted to knohat kind of people would read the book and how they would be likely to react

"I've no idea," I said "But I don't think that's why you're creating all these problems"

"You're right," she said "It's because it seems to et much out of it"

That's a risk we're now going to take together, Brida An anonymous text from the Tradition says that, in life, each person can take one of two attitudes: to build or to plant The builders ht take years over their tasks, but one day, they finish what they're doing Then they find they're he when the building stops

Then there are those who plant They endure storms and all the many vicissitudes of the seasons, and they rarely rest But, unlike a building, a garden never stops growing And while it requires the gardener's constant attention, it also allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure

Gardeners always recognize one another, because they know that in the history of each plant lies the growth of the whole World

The Author