Let us take a moment of silence to remember Madiba, Nelson Mandela, who joined the ancestors today at the age of 95.
President Obama has issued a statement, in which he said:
“He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today, he has gone home. And we have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us — he belongs to the ages.”
Hamden Rice, wrote Understanding the Legacy of Nelson Mandela. Please give it a read.
Here is a brief biograhy from the Mandela Foundation.
Many of us have a list of heroes and sheroes, who died young or were cut down by assassins, and unable to fulfill a long lived destiny. The fact that Mandela lived to the age of 95, and continued to work for the world long after he was no longer the President of the new nation of South Africa speaks to the power of of the man and his legacy.
I offer condolences and prayers today to his wife Graça Simbine Machel Mandela, former spouses, his six children 17 grandchildren, and his great grands.
Those prayers embrace the 52 million people of The Republic of South Africa.
I’d like to close with the National anthem of South Africa whose lyrics are in Xhosa Zulu Sesotho Afrikaans and English
This version (there are many) is sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir
Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika
Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw’ uphondo lwayo,
(God bless Africa
Let its (Africa’s) horn be raised)
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
(Listen also to our prayers,
Lord bless us, we are the family of it (Africa)Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika – South Afrika.
Lord bless our nation,
Stop wars and sufferings,
Save it, save our nation,
The nation of South Africa – South Africa.Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
From the blue of our heavens,
From the depths of our seas,
Over our everlasting mountains,
Where the cranes give answer,Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.
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