Allman Brothers Band - The Sky Is Crying

Nelson Mandela has passed away, one of the last of the true Statesmen.  George Washington's greatness was that he could have been King, and wasn't.  Mandela's was that he could have led a bloodbath of revenge, and steered his country away from that gory road.  His story is one that we see all too rarely these days.  Peter tells it well, as someone who lived through those days in that land.

Mr. Mandela was, in my opinion, a statesman - one of very few politicians who rise to that status.  His death removes one of the last restraining influence on more militant African nationalist politicians - and, yes, Communist-influenced politicians - who have been pressing for swifter and more ruthless redistribution of the country's wealth (such as it is).  I think the restraint they've shown in the face of Mr. Mandela's implacable opposition to such destructive tactics may now evaporate, and politics in South Africa may become much more radicalized.  I hope I'm wrong . . . but only time will tell.  One can only pray that his legacy of wisdom, restraint and pragmatism will endure.  Thank you to Quotespick for putting that legacy into this image.

May the soul of Nelson Rohihlahla Mandela rest in peace, and may his sins be forgiven him.

I have no doubt at all that Mr. Mandela is bound for glory.  And may he have the Allman Brothers Band to sing him to his rest.



I myself recall being in Jo'Burg in 1996, soon after Mr. Mandela took up the Executive powers in that land.  There was a driver in the office of the business partner I was there visiting; of course, the driver was black.  In a quiet time when everyone else was in a meeting, he was the only one in the room and I struck up a conversation.  He was middle aged - about what I am now, if I read it right - and I asked him what the biggest changes to his life had been.  He said that he didn't need to apply for a permit to travel to see his family.  Instead, he just bought a train ticket.  That's a big change, that happened only a brief time ago.

He also said that a lot of the younger men had a lot of anger in them, and that the older men were working to keep that in check.  He said that Mandela gave them someone to point to, as an example.  An example of Grace.

Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.

...

A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.

...

There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can only be yours if you'll reach out and take it.

- Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith

He could have led a blood soaked Reckoning.  Instead, he reached out for that gift of Grace.  Instead, he gave that gift to an entire people.  Instead, he showed the world what the Living Word means.

Peter has another, older post that gives essential background to understand Mr. Mandela, written by a native (white, or as he explains "White" in the proper grammar of apartheid) South African.  In it, he says this:

I remember the time of Mr. Biko's death . . . and I still mourn for him and so many other leaders, murdered before their time. Some were my friends.

South Africa might be a very different place today, with far fewer problems, if they'd lived.

He also posts this amazing song.  You'll have to click through to his post for the lyrics, which are basically the whole thing.  I think it's fair to say that you simply cannot understand modern South Africa without listening to this, but you know how sentimental I am.  However, long time readers also know that I am a student of history.  This is history, a rare event that causes us to look back on the road taken, and the road not taken.  At least for now.  If that changes then the Sky will cry indeed.



God Speed, Nelson Mandela.  You were a far better man than most, and far better than most could have hoped for.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.