For Dr. Jane Goodall, the English primatologist, anthropologist and conservationist, belief in God was not ethereal or alien, nor vague or merely a concept.
It is no exaggeration to say that few people on earth have the name Dr. Not knowing Jane Goodall, who died on October 1 and whose memorial service was held Wednesday in Washington, DC at the National Cathedral.
Dr. Goodall was known – and rightly praised – for her remarkable efforts to leave the world better than she found it. She traveled the world as many as 300 days a year to engage global and business leaders, supporting the thriving Jane Goodall Institute she founded in 1977, and more than twenty other institutions taking a holistic approach to conservation. Its Roots & Shoots program empowers young people to create projects that benefit animal, human and environmental life in more than 70 countries.
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But beyond these mighty achievements, I learned a lot about living out my personal faith from a long conversation we had in March of this year, just months before she took her last breath on October 1. She was the last of twelve interviews I conducted for my book.Witness to Faith: Conversations about Faith and Meaning” (Morehouse, October 7, 2025).
Whatever your faith tradition – or if you don’t have one – there is much to be gained from the wisdom of Dr. Goodall (or, as she asked me to call her, “Dr. Jane”) on faith and what it means when the last breath comes.
Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson and his new book ‘Witness to Belief’ (Morehouse Publisher)
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Raised as an Anglican, her spirituality was broad and inclusive. Although she embraced God through a Christian lens, she never saw those who came to faith differently as less valued. “If I had been born in Egypt, I would be Muslim and believe in Allah and so on,” she told me. Yet Dr. Jane confessed that throughout her life, God was “as real to me as the wind that blew through our garden.”
From left to right, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., actor Leonardo DiCaprio and chef Jose Andres attend the funeral of conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday, November 12, 2025 in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
Growing up, Dr. Jane regularly attended worship and, as she said, “I read EVERY chapter of the Bible,” creating a collection of her favorite verses on small slips of paper that she placed in a “Bible Box.” These Scriptures provided daily encouragement and inspiration. One of her favorites was Jesus’ admonition to persevere: “He who has put his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven.”
For Dr. These first steps in faith launched Jane’s calling. While listening to a Bach piece at Notre Dame in Paris, she experienced what she called a moment of “mystical ecstasy.”
Guests attend an opening Mass, with the dedication of the high altar, at Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, five and a half years after a fire destroyed the Gothic masterpiece, as part of ceremonies marking the cathedral’s reopening after its restoration, in Paris, France, Sunday, December 8, 2024. (Sarah Meyssonnier/swimming pool photo via AP)
In her words: “Either we agree with Macbeth that life is nothing more than a ‘tale told by an idiot’… or, as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin suggested, there is something going on in the universe that is very much like a conception – like a birth.” It was then that she became “completely convinced that there was a great spiritual force that we call God.”
For Dr. Jane: “It was a call to action – the voice of God, if you will.”
British ethologist and primatologist Jane Goodall poses with her mascot “Mister H” during a photo session on October 18, 2024 in Paris. (Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
From that moment on, she drew on her faith and God’s strength. Quoting the Apostle Paul, she told me just months ago, “At this point in my life I have a very strong faith in the One in whom we live and move and have our being. How else could I deal with the crazy schedule I have now?’
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Much of her work has focused on helping others understand the need for alternative energy sources, responsible stewardship of the Earth’s resources, and ethical care of animals. Her approach – a life lesson for everyone in 2025 – was this: “When I talk to someone who believes in different values, ethics and morals, I have found that arguing or being aggressive doesn’t work. I listen and try to reach not the head but the heart. Only when head and heart work together in harmony can we achieve our true human potential.’
Jane Goodall appears in the television special “Miss Goodall and the World of Chimpanzees”, originally broadcast on CBS, Wednesday, December 22, 1965. Location, Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. (Getty Images)
These are among the life lessons I learned from Dr. Jane learned. But perhaps the most valuable lesson was what she taught me about death. “I have never been afraid of death itself,” she said. “Because I don’t believe that death is the end. It might be more like the beginning. When you die, there is nothing, or there is something. I do [believe]. My next big adventure is dying, and finding out what that is will be the most exciting adventure ever!”
Jane Goodall, English primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist, with a chimpanzee in her arms, ca. 1995. (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)
For some, the life and legacy of Dr. Jane Goodall may one day be just a chapter in history, but that’s not what she believed.
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Just weeks before her death, Dr. Jane left my wife and me a short note, ending with the following words: “These may be dark times, but there is one thing we can do: pray! To the Great Spiritual Power of the Universe, who we know to be God.”
In a time like ours, it is her faith that should inspire us all to live like her until the last breath comes – making the world not darker, but lighter. And then, when the end comes, to face it without fear but with great anticipation: that the greatest adventure is the last.
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