A Spirit to Treasure

     Nelson Mandela.  His name alone evokes emotion, intrigue, and a spirit of hope.  His passing gives us all reason to pause and to think about this man whose legacy is a gift to the world.  We know of his humanity, his fight against apartheid, and his amazing forgiveness for those who would harm and diminish.  But what would it have been like to speak with the man himself?   For so many journalists  that dream is dashed.  Yet I discovered something so amazing, so beautiful and breathtaking days ago.
       It happened during an interview just one day after word came that the 95-year old's time here on earth had expired.   I was sitting down with Dr. Allan Boesak, a South African Activist and Theologian who led the United Democratic Front Coalition during the 1980's.   Boesak worked closely with Mandela's African National Congress, with the goal of ending apartheid and gaining the release of Mandela and other political prisoners.
      The emotions of the day were palatable.  Dr. Boesak, the Desmond Tutu Chair for Peace, Global Justice and Reconciliation Studies at Butler University and the Christian Theological Seminary, was paying tribute to Mandela, a man he described as a father-figure.  He took me back to 1987 when the South African government offered to free Mandela, if he would turn his back on "his people."
What was interesting is that Dr. Boesak and the internal leadership on the outside of prison walls had no contact with their leader.  On the outside they stood unwavering for the cause, certain that Mandela would do the same inside.  He did.  Despite being locked away for decades at that point, Boesak said Mandela told his captors, 'I will not come out unless my people say they are ready to receive me.'
Boesak called it "intuitive" telling me, "Nelson Mandela had been locked away...from his people  physically, but the connection between his spirit and the spirit of our people was an amazing thing."
           It was that same spirit of connectedness that emerged so radiantly from Boesak, as he spoke about his political mentor and the deep convictions passed along to men like himself, who would dare to follow.    The question posed was a simple one:  "What do you treasure?"   Boesak's answer was as if Mandela was answering himself.   Tears welled up in Dr. Boesak's eyes, and he spoke like a gentle giant:
  
     "I treasure the fact that he has taught us that one must be willing to sacrifice for that in which one believes; that the sacrifices are never vain glories, it's not for yourself.   It's not to give yourself a name... Always for the people.   You speak up because those that have become so oppressed, that have become voiceless depend upon somebody to have the courage to stand up.  You lead your people with integrity and with love; that you stand up against things that are wrong, not just when they are done by your adversary, but when they are done by your own people.  So you are not afraid to call your own movement into account, so you are not afraid to call yourself  to account."

     Finally, he spoke of Mandela's love for humanity and his goal to give the world a human face.
"That's what Mandela was all about," Boesak said, "If you see him, and if you see that smile, if you see that face, if you see that expression, if you see the selflessness and the gentleness in his eyes, that was the real Mandela."  

     In that moment, as my eyes watered I felt a connection, like I knew him too.  At least a small glimpse of his spirit.   Mandela was shining through.