Thought for the week (we 15th December 2013)

This week Nelson Mandela will be laid to rest and along with the citizens of South Africa the world community will mourn the death of the greatest statesman of our age.

Imprisoned in 1964 for charges of treason against a regime steeped in the evil of apartheid, he was held on Robin Island, a penitentiary designed not only to imprison but to break and humiliate its inmates.  As far as Nelson Mandela was concerned the long years of imprisonment nurtured within him a renewed desire to see South Africa become a just and equal society.

He emerged from captivity as a mature leader and future president who despite his personal sufferings put the good of his country first.  He did not call for an uprising against the regime that imprisoned him but rather spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation urging his people to throw their guns and knives into the sea and to practice the ways of peace.

Nelson Mandela was a man of great faith, who had the power to love, the courage to lead, the humility to serve, and the patience to persevere. President Barak Obama on hearing of Nelson Mandela’s death spoke of him as now belonging to the ages and how true that is.

Mandela often said ‘It always seems impossible until it is done’ and made that his life calling.  His legacy to us is one of truth and righteousness secured by an attitude of mind and heart that was grounded in love and service.

His long walk to freedom was rewarded in that he lived to see the radical change for which he gave his life.  His generosity of spirit, his willingness to forgive and his indomitable will was grounded in the golden rule which Jesus gave – to love God and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves; to go that extra mile, and turn the other cheek and so by love to change the world.

For as we have seen in the life of Nelson Mandela only love can do it!