Friday, December 6, 2013

Papa Nelson : Merci infiniment .

These are not times of mourning, these are times for Celebrations and Thanksgiving, for God granted us 95 years of Madiba's life of Impact and inspiration. 

He has led by example, so today we must not be mourning, we should be determined to follow his positive actions in honor of him, and live through his legacy. 

The following posts are excerpts from friend's fb posts that resonated with how I feel about Madiba. 

- Madiba, may your soul rest in perfect peace!

-----  By Dr Cornel West : " You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people." 





 ----- From Salmah Rizvi  :  " Mandela fought for freedom, fought for equality, fought for justice, fought for dignity, fought for love, fought for life. For that they called him terrorist. Rest in (peace) power fighter, political prisoner, free one." - by Noura Erakat (Palestinian human rights activist)





-----  By Stephanie Otou : " The only thing I may ever have to cross off my bucket list before accomplishing is meeting #Mandela. He was a gift to Humanity. Our greatest common denominator. A raceless, colorless,ageless gift, one we shall forever sherish. May his soul rest in peace. Love, Steph"




 ---------  From Idris Ayo Bello

The conversation between President Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela below summarizes the spirit and essence of Madiba : Why his life, words, and decisions inspired so many to "do better" and to "be better."




Madiba, you are still present in our hearts, 

in my heart... 




Your  gracious posture in the poster on the wall-of-heroes in my room  reminds me every morning to aspire to act like you; to have a powerful vision and to pursue the vision despite the multiple setbacks and challenges. 

Thank you for the inspiration. Thank you for being such a great role model. Thank you for your lovely biography. Thank you for the humor, when I think of your childhood stories in Umtata (playing in the fields with animals, the circumcision episode. aie!). Thank you for being such a great writer, and having writing styles I inspired myself from many times. Like with the other biographies that I read, I took the time to retype all the notes I had underlined from "Long Walk to freedom."  I have forged my character, thanks to your own words/experiences/lessons learned within your biography. 

Two of the many lessons that helped me develop my values and principles, are from 2 experiences you lived at Fort Hare : 

1. On Justice: 
(After a serious tug-of-war with the seniors to have some freshmen represented in the House committee, when you won, you said this) :  "This was one of my first battles with authority, and I felt the sense of power that comes from having right and justice on one’s side." p. 46

2. On Self-discipline and patience: 
"Running taught me valuable lessons. In cross-country competition, training counted more than intrinsic ability, and I could compensate for a lack of natural aptitude with diligence and discipline.I applied this in everything I did. Even as a  student, I saw many young men who had great natural ability, but  who did not have the self-discipline and patience to build on their endowment." p. 46.


Thank you for your genuine spirit, for your integrity,  and your gift of your "self" to a cause grander than yourself.


Thank you Papa Mandela. 


Adieu, et que ton ame repose en paix! 



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