I have not written a post here for 4 months. I would like to say it’s because I have been living life and been too busy but that wouldn’t be the truth. I have been in cruise control. I have been forgeting to take moments in and have wasted so much time doing pointless things. It took some random email to snap me out of it. It began like this:
“Dear friends and supporters of Safe Passage: It is a very sad duty to let you know that we have lost the visionary founder of Safe Passage, Hanley Denning. Hanley was fatally injured in an automobile accident on Thursday, January 18th 2007, in Guatemala City.”
I never met this woman but she was a true inspiration. Four months ago I wrote a post about Safe Passage and Hanley Denning. I remember feeling amazed at how much one person with compassion and dedication can accomplish. Because of her, 550 children are in school that otherwise would be scrounging for garbage at the Guatemala City dump. Her compassion for these children produced a snowball effect that shows no sign of slowing down.
She may have lived a short life (36 years) but a lot of people could spend a hundred years and not come close to making the type of profound difference that Hanley has. There are millions of people that live sheltered lives and are afraid to live with their whole being. By sheltering themselves, they avoid failure but lose their very soul. All of a sudden “good enough” becomes the norm. I’m sure Hanley could have been a normal teacher in Maine and she would have been just fine and would have made differences in children’s lives. But when she saw the conditions of the children at the Guatemala City garbage dump she knew she had to do something. She did not let her fear have the best of her. And look at the result. Her death is not only a sad time of mourning but a joyous celebration of a life well lived.
Sometimes I feel like I’m becoming one of those people described above. I’m living a sheltered life. The news I got today made me realize that whether I live a short life like Hanley’s or a century, I want to live it with my whole being. Their no guarantee when I’ll go but I want to be ready. I want to die with the knowledge of living a life with many risks, many adventures, and living with all that I am.
Hanley’s popular organization will continue on, a lasting legacy to a compassionate soul.
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