My hope, for this most recent development in what is now a benchmark of South African history, is that the passing of Nelson Mandela be viewed as an opportunity for further progression in his name, not further discord between the established political parties and regression from what he dedicated his life to: equality, justice, and progression for a nation and the world.
The global outpouring of love for this man in the days since his passing is unprecedented, at least in my life time. It is not a "seeming" truth, but a glaringly obvious one, that the virtues Mandela both preached and possessed, are ones the world longs for, both in governmental leadership and citizen to citizen.
As we embark on this path toward a globalized future, made more possible each day through things such as the Internet specifically: social media communications such as Facebook and Twitter, what I cannot ignore is the evident universal ethic that is being shared across this world's new wireless boundaries. This ethic is one of longing, longing for an alternative to war for solving political turmoil, a demand for international mobilization to aid in crises that cross political lines, such as the recent polio epidemic in Syria, and longing for embracing the light side of the human spirit in each and every man, woman, and child.
So what is the gold lining to be found in the passing of a man as noble and magnanimous as Mandela, affectionately known as Madiba (the name of his tribe, Xhosa)? It is the fact that his physical passing is merely that, but the greatness of his spirit, and the ethic he himself perpetuated will live on, inevitably in the hearts and actions of each person who embraces it in his or her day to day life. We are not all destined nor purposed to live a life such as that of Madiba. The capacity to dedicate your life to a cause such as equality for all peoples, regardless of the color of their skin, to be jailed for thirty years on an island prison and not waver in your ambition and fortitude, and to eventually become your nation's President, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and Elder, is not something each individual is born with, nor capable of developing. This is why such grace is recognized when upheld and maintained in an individual such as Mandela. We are all capable of seeing it and understanding it.
What each person IS capable of however, is perpetuating kindness, tolerance and empathy in our day to day lives. These small actions give birth to the possibility of global transformation. Madiba, Martin Luther King, Gandi, Mother Teresa, these are the greats who pave the way, but we must be the perpetuators, the carriers of their torches once they are gone. It is the many who stand beside the few, inspired and mobilized, who will create such pressure and force, that the dams of present day ethical confinements such as human trafficking, child labor, oppression of women, and pointless wars have no option other than to burst, so that the waters of purity can flow freely and unhindered
