I had the pleasure of meeting Rev. Anne Mugane, known as Mama John, during what would be the sunset of her life. She was the founder and director of Merciful Redeemer Children’s Home, located just outside of Nairobi, Kenya. Her vision and burden had always been to reach out to the needy and less fortunate. […]
Understanding animals shows them respect. Doing so illuminates the interdependence between and among species, including humans. This understanding doesn’t come from books or nature films alone. It doesn’t come from a brisk walk through a zoo. The understanding needed grows through the guided exposure to animals’ stories, strengths, threats and survival skills.
Doris dies to herself here in the silence of her lair and the uncertainty about the future. She has faced this ordeal with all the powers she has––hospitality, baking and a positive outlook on life and the belief in the power of peace to build community. But will her love in action be enough? She feeds the bats when the sweetest sound you’ve ever heard, shrill and sweet. In the laughter of both the bats and the fairies, Doris faces and overcomes her deep inner conflict of wanting to fit in as a duck-sized fairy in a bat-infested world.
Here, Doris faced the test of the honey cakes. Will the bats like them? Had she and the canary come up with a good idea? Or will it all fall apart? In this part of the story, Doris discovered her power. She realized that her ideas are worthy and that her cooking of honey cakes worked. The bats became allies, and so did the fairies. She stepped into her power as she confronted her fears and doubts and owned her identity as a peacemaker.
The great philosopher, Joseph Campbell, has written about the hero’s journey. He studied ancient myths from all over the world and discovered that they all told the same stories, even though they were a world apart. They told stories about the origin of the world and stories about the stars and love. These stories all had the same structure. And I believe Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey is the story of HSPs (Highly Sensitive Person) and how we can own our power.
Ethiopia is a country that still fills my heart to this day. I took a memorable eight-day trip to Ethiopia with G-Adventures, the National Geographic tour operator that teaches what exploration with purpose means, in August 2019.
