With young friends in Egypt (Photo: Marianne Barcellona)
With Syrian refugees in refugee camp in Beirut (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
The shadows you fear are just a child’s fantasy.
There is no wound and nothing to be wounded;
all is mercy and love.
But you build up thought like a massive wooden door.
Set fire to the wood.
Silence the noise of the heart.
— Rumi
Whether I’m in Syria, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, or Kenya, I always try to spend time with children wherever I wander–especially with orphans and those in need (for reasons I’ll explain in an article coming out next week). The Sufi teachers I visited while traveling from Afghanistan to Mali weren’t the only ones who gave me a unique education on the road–since the children I met along the way were also some of the best teachers I’ve ever encountered…
