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Nelson Mandela's roads
Reprinted from csmonitor.com
Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday, was the first black president of South Africa. Prior to his election in 1994, he had led the battle to end apartheid, which had kept black people subservient and powerless before the ruling white government. Mr. Mandela’s achievement was setting his people free, establishing a government open to both blacks and whites, and without the kind of violence that has afflicted transitions in some other African nations.
I will always love his courage even in the bleakest hours, his vision of what South Africa could be, and his willingness to walk the road that would bring that vision to pass. As he said, “If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.”
Mandela walked both of those roads — and others. After gaining the presidency, his establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission led South Africans to the high roads of “Goodness and Forgiveness.” Taking these roads helped avoid the genocides that have occurred in other African countries such as Rwanda. The justice and mercy that evolved from this process represented a deep spiritual commitment to true freedom, not just lip service to a distant ideal.
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