Courage to Forgive

Inspirational song: Free Nelson Mandela (The Special AKA)

The little dramas of my Park that I had planned to write about suddenly feel very small today. I can't write about my cats and dogs when the rest of the world is remembering one supremely inspiring man. Many of the newscasters and pundits are of an age with me, and many of them have been speaking this evening of how they came of age politically by embracing the cause of ending apartheid in South Africa, taking up the call to free Nelson Mandela from prison. Even the president said this afternoon that his very first political action in his life was to protest for this cause. I was a teenager in the 1980s, and I can recall hearing Mandela's name back then, and slowly becoming aware of what apartheid was. I started out being very naive, trying to understand why the musicians I followed were so vocal in their refusal to perform in Sun City, the resort in South Africa. As a very young woman, my awareness of world affairs was heavily influenced by pop culture figures. I don't know that as silly teenager, I would have paid as much attention to world hunger without Bob Geldoff, nuclear proliferation and Glasnost without Sting, or apartheid without Johnny Clegg. Eventually my eyes stayed open wide enough, so that I didn't need them to sing me into awareness. My own daughter, the younger one, is still developing her own understanding of the world beyond her personal sphere, and had yet to study Mandela in depth, to learn all he means to history. When she told me she knew the name but couldn't remember why, I summarized for her, ending with "and he was one of the best loved world leaders of all time." I don't think I am overstating his impact.

There are many tributes being sent out tonight, by people who knew Nelson Mandela and people who were inspired by him. I desperately want to join my voice to the chorus, but I feel so inadequate to speak of such a legacy. The man worked for decades to bring justice and equality to South Africa, through non-violent means as long as he could, until the actions of the government forced his movement to turn into more aggressive tactics. He endured horrible conditions in prison, suffering permanent damage to his eyes and so much more, while continuing to believe in the rightness of his cause. As the influence of the world and the work of his fellow Africans began to erode the grip of apartheid, he continued to be imprisoned, even as other ANC leaders were freed. Once de Klerk finally ended his confinement, rather than turning on the ruling party, with a violent revolution that he could have initiated with a word, Mandela held fast to the belief that non-violence and compromise were the only ways the cause could finally succeed. His endless capacity to forgive was the key. Could I have shared a Nobel Peace Prize with the former president of my country who had lengthened my imprisonment, as he did? I don't know that I am so strong, to forgive so much, and keep working tirelessly toward justice.

Mandela was one of my mother's biggest heroes. She spent the evening sending me messages of how much she loved the things he did. She played the six degrees of separation game several times over, although she only needed three or four degrees for most of the connections. I agree, mom. He was larger than life. He was worthy of your respect and devotion. I heard it said tonight that his fellow Africans spoke less of death and more of "transitioning." Looking at it that way, I can imagine he has transitioned into the highest levels of being. As my mother said, "I'm sure he is enjoying his life review. He made a lot of people very happy."