World Stepping

At 11 years old, I'd rarely encountered anyone whose worldview was vastly different from that of my parents. Yet there I was, sitting on a slickly wet black lava flow that long ago made its way to the sea, facing a brown-skinned, bare-chested Hawaiian shaman. We were dripping wet with saltwater, so we didn't mind the rhythmic splashes from the sea that added flavor to our treat, a handful of manapua (sweet meat wrapped in dough), as we watched the brightly colored tourists on the sands below and discussed the meaning of life.

My parents warned me to stay away from the locals, but I was painfully aware that I would not be alive at that moment had it not been for this man's interference, pulling me out of the crashing waves just before I was ground against the abrasive rock. There was a mixture of sorrow, anger and pride in the man's eyes as he told me about Hawaii's history, the proud people who, until just a few generations earlier, had been rulers of their own island kingdom. I began to wonder why I had been warned away and, in my innocence, mentioned it to him.

The man chuckled to himself, looking at me fondly. "The people of the earth are one," he said, "but many have forgotten. They think they are islands in the sea, each trying to fill their shores with riches. They don't see the richness around them" he added with a sweeping wave that took in the verdant mountain behind us, the black rocks we were sitting on, the sparkling white beach below us and the rolling blue-green sea stretching to the sun-filled horizon. "They don't see the greatest treasure of all," and he tapped me on my chest, just above my heart, and then tapped his own.

My life was never the same after that meeting. With that simple conversation, my entire value system changed. I wanted to know people individually. I sought the real beauty of the world. I learned about the connections we share between us. The shaman was right. True richness resides in these connections and the love we share.