December 10th

How appropriate it is that the world should gather today to celebrate Nelson Mandela's life - not only is it Human Rights Day (honoring the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights - 1948), but it also marks the 20th anniversary of Mandela receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (1993) and the day that Mandela signed South Africa's constitution into law (1996).  I along with many others in Canada, woke up in the middle of the night to bear witness to today's memorial.  That the sky opened up and shared its grief as teardrops from heaven just seemed fitting.  The world has truly lost a hero and it is now up to us to be his voice and to share his legacy.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said it well when he said:

"To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better,

whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded."

How many of us will be able to say that we left this world even a little bit better?  Certainly Nelson Mandela can, and it's not just "a bit" better - he changed South Africa and in so doing, he changed the world.  And he did it one person at a time, starting with himself.  May it be so with us.