Book Review by Brian Sheehan
Reprinted from the Summer 1999 Southern AEOE Newsletter
Our students’ outdoor education experience is a week that will be embedded in their lives forever. The outdoor setting is a place of power. It seems only appropriate that author Michael DeMunn has captured this concept in a children's literature piece entitled Places of Power. I have found many great pieces of childrens’ literature in the Visitor’s Center in Yosemite Valley. This book and a catalogue may be ordered through the Yosemite Association, PO Box 230, El Portal, CA 95318.
“Long ago, when the world was made, the Creator also made places of power everywhere. These are special places we can go to where our Creator can always be found.” These are the words that begin the book... yet it is not a book about creation, but a piece of work that shares how animals and humans have discovered wild and beautiful areas, both large and small. They can be found in every country and culture. Perhaps it was where a mighty river met the sea and the people knew it was a rich and giving place that would always feed and provide for them. Places of power can even be found in a park, garden, or even your yard. They are everywhere, waiting to be found and experienced.
It is important for each one of us to find our place of power. The place of power is a spot that speaks a special message that only you will understand. No one else may see or feel the same way as you do when you are there -- and that's fine. It is yours to care for and protect. When you discover your place of power, you must be willing to give something -- such as a beautiful flower, some seeds or a special stone -- to show your thanks for being there. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it is given from your heart.
Places of power
are everywhere on the Earth, but inside each of us is the greatest Place
of Power of all. Each of us has the power to give love and
care to the
Earth and everyone around us. There is no greater power than this, and no
greater gift we can give or leave to others. It’s that simple.
-- Brian Sheehan