ECHOES OF WISDOM FROM SOUTH AFRICA

I have observed in life that sage advice frequently emerges from problems, persecution, pressure and pain.  To wit, there is a phenomenal legacy of wisdom that resides within the people of the Republic of South Africa.  To minimize mistakes and maximize maturation, we must be ever open to the impartation of wisdom from our tribal elders.  King Solomon framed it this way: “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.” (Proverbs 22:17)

The Wisdom of President Nelson Mandela

Wounds that can’t be seen are more painful than those that can be seen and cured by a doctor.  I learned that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

Where people of goodwill get together and transcend their differences for the common good, peaceful and just solutions can be found, even for those problems that seem most intractable.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy.  Then he becomes your partner.

[Nelson Mandela, civil rights leader • prisoner for 27 years for his anti-apartheid work • winner, 1993 Nobel Peace Prize • elected South Africa’s first freely chosen president, 1994-1999]

The Wisdom of Bishop Desmond Tutu

Each one of us can make a contribution. Too frequently we think we have to do spectacular things. Yet if we remember that the sea is actually made up of drops of water and each drop counts, each one of us can do our little bit where we are. Those little bits can come together and almost overwhelm the world. Each one of us can be an oasis of peace.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.  If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.

God’s dream is that all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.

[Desmond Tutu, cleric • anti-apartheid activist • winner, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize • winner, 2005 Gandhi Peace Prize]

Sisters and brothers, true wisdom is not the product of perfect people.  Rather, it is the result of one’s experiential encounters with “the only wise God.” (I Timothy 1:17)  Be continually blessed!