Leaving Africa was difficult. Every time I am here, I feel grounded and at home in a way not experienced elsewhere. Maybe it's the raw connection to nature, the direct contact with those who live so simply and clearly in relation to work, family and survival, and the deep commitment-that is ever present- to serve and create a better life for those in need. Or maybe I'm just really convinced that as the cradle of mankind, Africa is every human's homeland, which makes it all the more unbelievable that white supremacy, extremism and prejudice remain such dominant forces in the world.
Leaving Africa on a hopeful note, I discovered that St. Francis's Prayer of Peace is universally applied throughout India (as a Hindu prayer) and in Africa (as a song in Swahili):
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
In serving we are transformed; letting go of our selfishness and our misguided thoughts, to be born to a higher consciousness and greater purpose. It sounds pretty lofty, but really is fairly simple, one step at a time.....both Gandhi and Mandela, and all the amazing leaders I have interviewed started somewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment