Nelson MandelaA Personal Tribute

This world lost a great man on December 5, 2013:

Nelson Mandela.

Having been active in the anti-apartheid

movement in the eighties, having served as his

interpreter when he visited Japan in the nineties,

and having continued since to be involved in

grassroots activities to support the new South

Africa, I am filled with a bittersweet sense of loss

and gratitude, and have devoted my time this

Christmas season to honoring his memory. Here is

just a tiny sampler of treasures from my memory

trove.

Left: “Freedom.” Campaigning for his release from prison in the eighties.Right: Celebrating his release in Osaka, Japan in February 1990.Center: Welcoming him to Osaka, Japan in October 1990.

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

The words themselves are not uncommon. The miracle is that they come from a man who was unjustly imprisoned for over 27 years, who yet emerged with a heart full of love, free of bitterness, free of hatred, with the spiritual power to lead his people to aspire for something greater than revenge: reconciliation.

“It is never my custom to use words lightly. If twenty-seven years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die.”

–Closing Address, 13th International AIDS Conference, Durban, 2000.7.14

Listen to the new national anthem in a harmonious blend of five languages (Xhosa, Zulu, Sesoto, Afrikaans and English) as sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir in this YouTube music video.

In this YouTube video, see a flash mob (the Soweto Gospel Choir in disguise as grocery store employees) move shoppers to tears singing “Asimbonanga” (We Have Not Seen Him).

And marvel at how much their world has changed since the atrocious days of the Soweto Uprising of 1976, when hundreds of children were killed for asking to be educated in their majority native language and English instead of Afrikaans.

Mandela loved singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” with children–even though he couldn’t carry a tune. (But oh, how he could dance!)

“Mandela’s human and spiritual qualities lit the path to genuine liberation. He was steadfast in his refusal to accept a lesser status for black people, steadfast in his refusal to hate white people, steadfast in his determination to bring about freedom and equality – liberating all of us, black and white. He was a man of rare magnanimity – of ‘great spirit’, responding with forgiveness and reconciliation to provocation and suffering.”–Central and South African Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers),

December 6, 2013

On Dec. 23, we honored him with a humble memorial tribute at Osaka Johnan Christ Church.