I am sitting on the 19th floor of my hotel looking out to sea at the Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for such a long period of time. His years behind bars must have seemed an eternity to him and certainly appeared without hope. And yet one of the most haunting of all his paintings is one where he portrays the view he saw through the bars of his cell window. He was able to look back toward His beloved South Africa and see the outline of the mountains of Cape Town. His island prison looks to be only a few kilometres out to sea and yet the gulf of divide during the horrible years of apartheid must have seemed uncrossable. But to me the great story of Nelson Mandela is his vision. He continued to look through the tiny window of his cell and see a vision of his Africa of the future.
Remember there is no prison cell that can contain and restrict vision.
There is no regime that can crush the passion filled spirit.
There is no crisis that can stop the progress of a man or woman filled with hope of a better tomorrow.
To Nelson Mandela we owe a great debt.
He demonstrated to the world – the power of hope.
And then when change came and his hopes began to come to pass – he excercised the grace of forgiveness to all those who had opposed his dreams.
The island on the horizon looks so insignificant – yet to me it stands as a beacon of hope declaring that anything is possible – if you can just truly believe.
