Twenty years ago, two princesses entered eternity within the week. There are many things that can and will be remembered about these women, however I wanted to take the opportunity to remind that many things about their collective legacies carry inspiration for all of us.

In The Sisterhood book I wrote,

“Five months after we started the conference in March, two profound lives passed into eternity. Two astounding women fell like seed into the earth within days of each other. Both were princesses and both were advocates of humanity.

One was a literal princess – beautiful, captivating, graced with wealth and influence. The other was also a princess, but from a different realm – equally beautiful and captivating, but graced with a different influence and wealth. The latter was a devoted daughter of heaven, a true lover of Jesus Christ with an unyielding passion to place value and dignity upon others. The Bible says, “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over” John 12:24 The Message

I am speaking of the lives of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. I find it interesting that in the same year these two remarkable women were ushered into eternity, a new day was dawning for an great host of women to emerge… a great host of everyday girls who would (as daughters with royal stance) carry themselves with the dignity and grace, compassion, and human touch of these two women.

Like all of us, Diana was not perfect, but her genuine compassion and love for others was undeniable. Mother Teresa was a petite giant with an all-consuming devotion, who relentlessly walked Christ into the loneliness and despair of others.” – The Sisterhood Book, Bobbie Houston 2016

Although I didn’t have the honour of meeting either of these women, they both had a profound effect on my life and I am grateful for their example, their influence and their legacy. My prayer is that the Sisterhood that was birthed out of the Colour Conference just a couple of months before these women entered eternity would exemplify some of their qualities. That we would seek justice, that we would feel compassion and choose to empathise with the challenges and struggles of humanity. That we would step into the gap for the most vulnerable of our world.

As the world remembers these women this week, may we choose to take up their mantle of kindness and be a sisterhood known for its heart for humanity. Today we honour them for the imprint of goodness they left on this world.

Photo: Manfredo Ferrari