大象传媒

It was 10th May 1994 in an underground room in the South African Embassy in London. A group of us who had been involved in the struggle against Apartheid had been invited to celebrate the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President and watch the ceremony on a large TV screen. I am not a man given to tears but as Nelson Mandela made the oath and took up office, I, like others, could not keep back my tears of sheer joy.

That great moment was the result of a struggle over many years. Beginning the streets of Soweto, where people refused to be cowed even by beatings and bullets, it became a worldwide campaign. In the end it even influenced the banks, who refused to reschedule South Africa鈥檚 loans-the tipping point for the end of Apartheid. But the epicentre of this struggle was the heart and mind of Mandela himself during those 23 years dark years, more than 10,000 long days in prison. As he wrote 鈥淎n afternoon pounding rocks in the courtyard might seem like forever, but suddenly it is the end of the year and you do not know where all the months went.鈥�

When in the 4th century a few Christians, appalled by the laxity of the late Roman world went into the Egyptian deserts for a life of prayer, they found that far from having escaped the battle, they were on the front line, struggling against inner demons. So Mandela found in prison. He wrote that there were two essentials. One was to keep his dignity, despite all attempts by the prison authorities to break him. He was determined not to emerge from prison as a diminished human being. The other was not to despair. 鈥淭here were many dark moments鈥� he wrote 鈥渨hen my faith in humanity was sorely tested but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lay defeat and death.鈥�

He was helped in this struggle by having a natural dignity, derived from his African heritage but also, as he emphasised, from the support the prisoners gave one another. I have also read that from time to time he received Holy Communion from the Methodist chaplain to the prison. But in the end the sources of lonely courage in him or anyone are, I think, a mystery known to God alone. What we do know as that he came through that inner struggle with the wisdom and magnanimity to negotiate a peaceful end to Apartheid. As he now lies in state before his funeral on Sunday I rejoice because his life shows us what, at our best, we human beings can grow into. And I think especially of his words

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us鈥� it is in everyone鈥�.

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