On a Mighty Soul

         

We honor and release Nelson Mandela, 95 years old, full of days and the fruits of life-long efforts on behalf of black South Africans. Even sick and weakened in his physical body, the people would not let him go. How could they, I suppose? Upon his passing, South African President Jacob Zuma addressed him as South Africa’s greatest son and father to all.

An ordinary man...

Mandela referred to himself as an ordinary man. Perhaps he really believed this, even though ordinariness was forever denied him once he became South Africa’s first black president in 1994. The wonder is that he served as president for only one term when certainly he could have remained in office much longer. Perhaps he felt he could do more out of office.

This is not the time for revenge...

Certainly he had the vision of freedom, dignity and equality for all South Africans in his bones, but he was a confident ways-and-means man as well. In an interview, he once described himself as a strategist and tactician. He knew what to do with what was in front of him, and he, like Gandhi before him, knew the measure of his opponents. They were oppressive and unjust men, often cruel in their actions, but they were not Nazis. When freed from the long, 27 years in prison, fully orbed with the power he had grown into, he told those roiling for pay-back: This is not the time for revenge…This from a wise and honorable heart.

The principles of dignity, freedom and equality...

With his death, he has given the world one more gift. He has brought to public prominence once more the principles of dignity, freedom and equality he so longed for. Fresh to mind again, we are reminded that these principles are human mandates for all. His was a mighty soul indeed.

Peace on earth, goodwill to all...

Did Mandela achieve all that he might have wished for? Probably not…heroic figures seldom see complete fulfillments, but they inspire because they move us along the path of greater spiritual awareness…the path that honors Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all.