Article April 25, 1994 Issue

The noble price for peace

Dorothy Dipuo Maubane

On September 2, 1993, at noon, most of South Africa came to a standstill to pray for peace and unity. Following on the heels of this wonderful sign of the times, Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize for 1993.

The quality common to both of these men is a willingness to take active steps for peace. They helped create peace where there was hatred, and helped reconcile groups of people who had been separated for generations by apartheid. They redirected their country toward good by displaying patience, tolerance, forgiveness, love, and respect—qualities so desperately needed to resolve the problems of South Africa and of the world.

In Christ Jesus' parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus, the rich man went to hell (which is really self-imposed agony) not because he was wealthy, but because he didn't look with compassion on his brother Lazarus (see Luke 16:19–26). The character of the rich man could symbolize looking at life as a mirror where we see only ourselves and our own point of view instead of as a window through which we see all individuals. Our indifference to the plight of people who are suffering in our own country or in other parts of the world is not supportive of peace and progress in the world.

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