Africa - One man's Journey

My own journey - In and Out and around Africa

Each one of us is on a journey; each one of us has a history, from our birth to the time when our life ends. The distance between those two points in time is our journey. The pages of this website are reflections of part of my journey. A journey that might be different from yours, but I am sure you might find that there are places where you can relate.

In a sense, even though we might not realize it, we are all traveling on two journeys. There is the one which is visible, that which we can see with our eyes, the places that pass us by, the events like births, graduations, weddings, relationships, breakups, jobs, careers and much more. Then there is the journey within, the real essence of our lives. The journey into inner space, into our heart and soul, into who we really are, what makes us run this race called life, what motivates our actions or inaction's. This journey is the more important of the two, since it determines our outer journey.  My thoughts in these pages reflect not only the physical Africa, but the effects that Africa had on my soul.

Call it awareness; call it being in touch, a sense of destiny, sensitivity to divinity, to inner leading and directions. My journey has been filled with both. There have been times when I have ignored that inner sense and just gone with that which is visible to the eye, only to find that I did not find the joy in my journey. Whereas, when I go on the inner path, I find that the sense of joy that permeates all of me and is visible to those around me. The motivation for life, the will to keep on going, the desire to discover new things is not an extrinsic motivation but comes from deep within.

Africa was the place where I experienced what I call some real "finding times". A place where I found that inner sense, my home, my place of discovery, people who in many ways were like-minded, filled with the joy of the moment, celebrating each day like it was the only one.

The journey has brought me back to the United States at this moment in time. I do not know what my future holds, but I can say this. "I do know who holds my future." It does not matter where my feet have been, but in which direction they are headed.

I once took a journey on an old boat on the Nile River. I drifted lazily along, only allowing the current to direct me. It was a wonderful feeling in the warm Ugandan sun. Yet at times I needed to use the oars to keep me headed in the right direction. I find the same in my life. There are times when I need to make some adjustments in my journey using the tools, the ores that have been given to me, to keep me headed in the right direction. Knowing that sooner or later, I will be heading home. An inner confidence, that my life does have a sense of purpose, of direction and of leading. The river of life has kept me within its channels, and all that I have experienced has been for the good of things, for in and outworking of simply who I am. I somehow sense that the best is yet to come.

I hope that you enjoy these pages; the reflections and discoveries of my journey and may they inspire you on yours.

The my inner journey, the care of the soul has been something I have always pursued even though at times I took some short-cuts or detours, My ideas as to how we human beings are empowered, how life is really sustained beyond mere existence and how we can be in tune with ourselves and the world in which we live have changed a lot. I find that it always comes down to living from my center, living from within, appreciating each moment, drinking it all in and experiencing life with all of its flavors. Finding joy and not just seeking happiness, call it "living with passion."

After returning from Africa, while living in a sleepy little town, nestled on the Puget Sound, I took a walk at the nearby park, as I crossed a stream, I stood on a bridge looking at the creek below. I saw a leaf go by tumbling over logs and some rocks. I thought that was just like my life had been, Overcoming the obstacles with sheer will power, blood, sweat and tears. I also remembered the words of an old man who was blind, sitting on the streets of Kampala, Uganda who took my hand and said: "The difficulties in your life will form something different in you. Drink deep from the cup that has been placed on your lips, drink the cup of suffering so that you may go on and be healed."

I turned and followed the leaf as it made its way to the Puget Sound and thought of the stream and how it merged with the sound. I saw it lose its color and blend with the vast gray of the Ocean. I thought of myself; my way, my will and how I had connected and flowed into something larger than myself. A realization that there were other realms, dimensions. That there was something greater than my little world and I could be and wanted to be part of it.

I usually see concepts in pictures, images that flow to me and make things real as to my own life and how to walk the path that is meant for me.

As I was hiking in the Cascade Mountains I came across a stream that I followed which led me to a clearing which turned out to be a swamp type area. I looked around and saw that the Alder trees were losing its color and life. I saw water surrounding them; stagnant water. There was no flow of life, only murky water. I looked up and saw an inflow of the stream and then I saw the reason for the swamp. It turned out to be a beaver dam.

The light came on in my head and a realization that I had become like that swamp, that I had an inflow but no outflow. It was there that I made the commitment to use what had been given to me. To harmonize my life along the lines of my gifts and talents and not to fit into some mold of other people's expectations, being true to the life and light within.

I miss the relational aspects of life in Africa. I do miss sitting with people in the evenings at their homes and talking about life, about the past, present and future. I miss the sounds of drums drifting through the thick, humid night air. The sounds of raindrops, pounding down, the crack of thunder as it strikes Lake Victoria. I miss sitting with village elders and drinking some home-brew out of a common pot with a long, wooden straw and sharing one's journey. It is there where I learned to enjoy the moment.

I was sitting with my daughter Katie outside of a tented camp in Kenya at a place called Lake Baringo Island. We had just been served afternoon chai, tea with milk and sugar in the East Indian fashion. My daughter had dropped her cookie, or a portion thereof. For the next two hours I sat there under the tent awning and watched a trail of ants carry away the cookie, crumb by crumb.

An African came by and laughed and said, Muzungu (white man), you are becoming a Mudagavu (African) you are enjoying the small things in life.

Patience in our journey, watching things unfold, allowing them to be birthed naturally instead of doing a caesarian operation in my own strength. Allowing the life force within to lead me through dreams and visions,images that come to me as I quiet my heart and soul.

I am not going back to Africa for the time being, but I am allowing what I learned there to be replicated here. To be relational rather than task orientated. To work with people instead of through people. To share what has been given. To be replenished daily through a quiet waiting. To embrace the moment to live life in the spirit of what the Jews call "La Chaim." To look at the past and say what Edith Piaf, the sparrow of French Music used to sing (Je ne regrette rien) I have nothing to regret.

The sad thing I find is that most people live on a different plane. They do not understand the path of the soul. There is no care of the soul. Life is repetitions of getting up, going to work, going to bed.

The wonderful thing is that there is so much more. Our Philosophy of life needs to go through a paradigm shift. A shift away from task orientation. Away from more is better, away running the race of life without purpose to the place where we can enjoy who we are, what is around us, to eat the ice-cream cone with the gusto of a little child, of being childlike without being childish.

In my own life that place came as I hit a wall, some might call it a dark night of the soul, others an inner awakening, the result has been a release of life within, being able to savor the little things in life and in a sense, to dance as Zorba the Greek with a sense of abandonment.

Lacheim is my inner call, the Hebrew word calling one to life. In Swahili we would say Kabissa, meaning complete, though I am far from it, the journey is on. Enjoy my African journey as you read these pages of mine...jon

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