Discovering
Your Power
“You
have a responsibility to discover your medicine. And once you
discover it, now your responsibility is to share it.”
John
Malloy (All Life Is Sacred, Parabola, Spring, 2015)
John
Malloy is a founding father of The Foundry School for kids who've
been in Juvenile Detention or Prison. His religion, which he's
practiced for more than forty years, is Native American Spirituality.
In his interview with Richard Whittaker in the Spring edition of
Parobola, he says, “If you're comparing yourself like, 'I can't
read like him,' or 'I can't run like him,' or 'I can't paint like
that,' you're basically putting coats over your power—which is a
Native way of saying, 'missing your medicine.'” His job is to help
young people find their own medicine, their gifts. Each of us must
discover what we have to offer to the world, and then find ways to do
just that. John Malloy says we must become servants for the rest of
our lives—that we can't go to heaven until we have completed our
earth walk, and we are here to serve.
This
may sound a bit punitive. Who among us wants to be a servant for
life? Surprisingly, we humans are happiest when we are living out our
gifts—when our “medicine” finds a way to manifest in our
everyday lives. So, if you're not a reader, not a runner, not a
painter, what exactly are you? Find that, and you will love the life
you lead.
One
of the principles for success at The Foundry School is doing things
together—no one lives in isolation. Every year they make a 500 mile
run from La Paz and Tehachapi to Los Angeles as a group. They
consider themselves spiritual runners, not competitive runners. This
training teaches young people who would otherwise have lived on the
streets or in prison, to have confidence in themselves and in their
spiritual family. Malloy says, “Americans train individually. They
keep secrets. Indigenous runners do everything together.”
Today,
take time to ponder your “medicine.” There are many things we
can't do well, but all of us have powerful gifts that are meant to be
shared. What are yours?
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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