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Every now and again, there are those seemingly rare people whose lives, whose stories, whose journeys show us that there is a different way to live than we have been taught by society, a way of life that can bring about real change in what many would deem miraculous ways. These are the people without which those of aspiring for a higher ideas would likely have no inspiration. They are the Ghandi's, the Martin Luther King Jr's, and going back further in time, the Buddha's and Christ's, people whose life stories serve to remind us all that the highest human ideals that often seem so foreign to our world, like true peace and selfless love, are in fact reachable by ordinary humans. After all, Buddha and Jesus, and all the healers, saints and mystics, yogis and sages, the great ones down through the centuries were all human just like us. Mother Theresa, Saint Francis of Assisi, beings like this are witness to the truth that the highest human ideal is very much reachable by any and all who are determined, and who are but willing to step out in faith and let go of their ego. But most of these people who are very much the true heroes of humanity do not make the history books or have religions built around them, nor are they remembered as saints. Their stories most often go untold, because we live in a world that is threatened by the message their stories tell, and the power within us that their journeys attest to, because it is a message with the power to disrupt the status quo and topple all the power structures of the world.
But to all those whose lives are touched by such people, they are angels; and their stories, to the souls who are blessed enough to stumble across them, serve as beacons of light and as inspiration to all who are on similar journeys of awakening, to all those who seek to be the change they wish to see in the world. Many of us pray for miracles, especially at this time of year with the Christmas season upon us, but the lives of people such as these show us that our whole life can become a miracle, if we but recognize the power of love, and if we are willing to step out in faith, to let go of all our fear and our preconceptions about life and how we've been taught the world works, and begin to follow our heart and our inner guidance, knowing that there is a higher power that wants only what is best for us and for all life, and that power is the power of creation, that power is love, and that power lies within us all. Once we have connected to that power, to the Source of all that is, there is nothing and nobody that can stop us from achieving greatness, and that which we call miracles will open up before us on our journey to create the life we seek and fulfill our purpose for being here.
John St. Julien is one such man alive today whose story is both incredibly powerful and inspirational to those of us seeking to become the change we wish to be in the world, and it has personally helped to show me that our potential as individual human beings on this planet is truly limitless when we but learn to connect with the far greater power available to all who open their hearts and minds to it, the power called God by many which will lead any of us, no matter our circumstances and no matter how hopeless we may feel our cause to be, out of the darkness and into the light. I have been following John's YouTube channel for several years now, but earlier this year he finally put together a video series sharing the entire story of his amazing journey, and how he went from being an average Joe living a relatively successful (but meaningless) materialistic western life in the UK, immersed in the darkness of drugs and greed and selfishness, to leaving it all behind in a leap of faith into the unknown which ultimately led him to founding and running several successful children's homes and a dog rescue in Tanzania. All without any planning or foresight whatsoever on his part, but only the desire to help alleviate suffering, the willingness to step out in faith, and the connection he developed with Spirit which guided him along the way, in many ways, especially through synchronicity. Now he continues to grow his operations, where he works tirelessly to get children out of child labor and into school, to provide a home and hope and a future to street children, provide housing for special needs orphans, and rescue as many dogs as he is able.
Like many of us on who are on journeys of awakening, John's story really starts when he hit rock bottom, as suffering is one of the greatest catalysts for awakening.
From there, he had the realization that there must be more to life, and found the power and inspiration within to leave a life of drugs and materialistic success he had built behind in the quest to find true meaning and purpose in life. For John, his intimate connection with Spirit was found in stillness, in meditation and through fasting, where he found God in the silence, and a great light appeared in the darkness of a quiet mind. It was not until he had embarked upon the spiritual path of seeking that he finally left his old life of drugs completely behind, and the transformation from the old person to the new was slow. After all, it takes some time to let go of our ego personality that we have all become so attached to, and instead make our minds empty and receptive to spiritual guidance and our bodies vessels for light and love to flow through.
Once we do let go, however, it is amazing the ways in which our needs are provided and our steps guided by a force of universal intelligence far greater than our own mind can comprehend. Many on the spiritual path are guided by synchronicity, 'coincidences' that are no longer seen as mere coincidences but instead filled with meaning. For John, as with many others, '11:11' was the major synchronicity, and by following the mysterious number that kept appearing to him, he was led to Tanzania where his story unfolds. The 'random' appearance of feathers at major crossroads in his journey and when he listens to his inner guidance are also a common feature of John's story, as when a feather appeared in the bathroom on the day he realized he could not go to Africa to help starving orphans while still addicted to the pricy habit of cigarette smoking, and at that moment flushed his last pack down the toilet.
The major turning point in these first two parts of the story occurred during a period of time in which he was fasting, while watching a video put together by some organization giving aid to African children in need. He couldn't comprehend how it was that there was so much suffering taking place across that continent, while so many people with so many resources and so much money do so little to alleviate that suffering, and he cried out, "Why doesn' t somebody do something?!?!" Most of us can probably relate, as we have all been there and had that feeling when witnessing a heart-wrenching injustice, especially of great magnitude. Instantly he heard a voice within him respond, "You are somebody," and it was at that moment he decided he had to do something. This life-changing moment just so happened to occur during an 11 day fast that had begun on November 11 (11/11), on the 7th day of that fast to be exact.
I find this point in the story to be so powerful, because it is so easy to blame all of the world's problems on those who have more money or more resources than we do, and ask ourselves why they aren't doing something, or doing more to help, when the far more important question we should be asking ourselves is why we aren't doing anything, or aren't doing as much as we could be. If we are to change the world, we must first change ourselves, and we all must and will come to this realization eventually. It is always easier to blame anyone else but ourselves for all of the darkness in the world we wish to see healed, but if we are not doing anything about it, if we are not working to heal the darkness within ourselves, then we are as much a part of the problem as absolutely everyone else who is doing nothing about it. We may indeed be poor, and only have a few dollars to spare each month, but if we are spending our excess on personal entertainment while ignoring the needs of those who are suffering like so many westerners, then we are no different than the billionaires around us who are doing the same thing on a much larger scale. And the vast majority of us in the western world have plenty of excess to spare and are simply unconscious of how much we are wasting on personal entertainment when so little can go so far in the 3rd World where suffering is most rampant and ignored, and the number of those who are homeless on our own streets is currently increasing every week now.
As it turns out, John listened to that inner voice, and decided that if he was someone and those children needed someone to help, and he felt compassion for them, then he would be that someone, even if he was only one person and had no idea what he could do. So he decided he was willing to go to Africa as a volunteer, and signed up to volunteer for a nonprofit in Tanzania. It was the 'wrong' organization, as he was looking for the organization whose video he had seen and inadvertently joined another with a similar name, but that 'mistake' led him to where he is today. Long story short, after making the commitment, he sold all of his possessions, bought a plane ticket to Tanzania, and boarded the plane with nothing but the remaining cash. And so commenced a new beginning to his life.
Amazingly, the nonprofit he had stumbled upon was flailing, and shortly after his arrival the organizers abandoned the project, leaving him with both the property and all the paperwork for a completely setup NGO. Within months of his arrival, he had inherited a nonprofit organization complete with a physical property in Tanzania where he could begin his work. From here, the story continues from miracle to miracle, as everything begins to fall into place in the same way the property had fallen into his hands. He met the right people, some of whom still work with him to this day, running the children's home. Feeling led to open his home to children in need, the children who were in need were made known to him through acquaintances, and later he began to seek them out. And so 'Feathers Tale' was born, the name given to the special needs children home he eventually built when his own home could no longer handle the number of children he was taking in, named after the feathers seemingly falling from heaven, the feathers John describes as reminders from the angels that we are never alone in our work when we are in the business of extending love to the world.
But the forming of the orphanage was only the beginning of John's work in Africa. Not only did he also begin rescuing dogs and turning part of the property into a dog shelter, he was eventually also led to create a second children's home, this one for street boys - mostly troubled teens - which had to be kept separate from the orphanage due to the risk these older boys would pose to the younger children, many recovering from drug addictions and lives of abuse, having often both been physically abused and taught to violently abuse others as a way of life.
In the same seemingly miraculous way every other step of this journey manifested, 'Angels Gate', the name given to this home, successfully came into being. Many of the boys are now musicians, and songs and records are even recorded at the home. Every single one of them are eternally grateful for the new lives this project has blessed them with, giving them shelter, hope, an opportunity to find healing, education they would have otherwise never had access to, and the chance to discover their talents and chase their dreams. Most importantly, these are largely boys who formerly did not know love, and it was more than anything else the experience of touching love, of being loved, that transformed their lives.
In the last 'chapter' of John's story, he finds his tribe, the Masai, and is actually eventually invited to join the tribe and is made an official member of the Masai tribe, a very rare thing for a white man. I find this 'ending' to the story quite touching, probably because I spent many of my childhood years growing up in African and had the opportunity to visit a Masai tribe myself, and know what great wisdom, courage and connection to the earth and to one another these people have.
It is an amazing story, much of which is left untold in the words in this short post. It would be too long, and unfair I think, to attempt to tell the whole story with written words, when it is not my story and John has done such a wonderful job putting his journey into story form in such a concise and beautiful way in these videos. Please do watch them, and I hope they are as interesting and as inspiring to you as they were to me.
If there is anything that this wonderfully true story can teach us, it is just how much one man or one woman can do to change the world if they commit themselves to love, let go, step out in faith and then follow their inner guidance, their heart, their intuition; and just what a force for light and love one individual can be when they are in tune with the power of creation, the infinite intelligence that unites all life in love. So when we feel that we are just one person, all alone, asking ourselves just what exactly we can do to change a world so full of darkness and unimaginable suffering, the answer is absolutely anything and everything we can dream of, and so much more, because the power that lies within us is infinite, and there is no darkness that light cannot dissipate by the simple act of shining.
As John frequently says in his videos, you don't need to see the whole staircase to take the first step, you just need the faith to step out, and then listen to the quiet voice of Spirit guiding you to your destination. Envision the what, and leave the how up to God, John says, and the ways in which the Universe will work will blow your mind. I can attest to the truth of this from personal experience. When we are in a state of resistance and fear, it often seems the whole world is conspiring against us, but once when we reach a state of acceptance and love, and begin to move with the flow of life, then we begin to see the truth, that the entire Universe was always conspiring to help us achieve our deepest desires and fulfill our dreams, all the more so when that desire and that dream is for the highest good of all. Johns' story is living proof of that, and there are a hundred more such stories you and I will likely never hear, even thousands, all weaving this tapestry we call life, creating a world of peace and love and light, and though most may never see it through the darkness, it is there, and any one of us can join in its creation any time we choose.
For those who may be interested, you can support John's efforts to alleviate child and animal suffering in Tanzania through donations to the UK nonprofit, Share Tanzania, where you can specify which program you want your donation to go, and where more info on all of their current programs are available. John's journey is far from over, and Share Tanzania continues to grow, now much more than the one-man operation it once was, always working with a variety of groups and government agencies in the region to help bring protection and healing to people, animals, and the earth alike.