By CATHLEEN FALSANI<\/p>\n ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER<\/a><\/p>\n Friday, December 6, 2013<\/p>\n The air feels a little thinner and the light seems a bit dimmer since Nelson Mandela departed this life for the next on Thursday.<\/p>\n When Mandela crossed to the other side of the veil, we lost one of the most extraordinary people to ever walk this earth \u2014 a force for good, a voice for justice, a man who embodied the ideals of mercy and forgiveness with boundless grace.<\/p>\n But even more than a political, social justice, or ideological giant, in Madiba\u2019s death I sincerely believe we lost the greatest spiritual leader of my lifetime.<\/strong><\/p>\n He was neither priest nor preacher. He was never ordained; never donned a cleric\u2019s garb or held The Word in his hand while extolling us about how to live.<\/p>\n Madiba lived his theology. He preached with his life. And his legacy is a scripture we will study for generations to come.<\/p>\n He did justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his God and with the world entire \u2014 with those who would call him their hero and those who would count him as an enemy.<\/p>\n \u201cFor to be free is not merely to cast off one\u2019s chains,\u201d he said, \u201cbut to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.\u201d<\/p>\n Mandela was no \u201crespecter of persons.\u201d Rather he treated all he encountered with dignity, no matter color, creed, status, gender, sexuality, age, nationality or disposition.<\/p>\n His is a resurrection story. Robbed of his freedom, his intimacies, his health, and even his ability to cry tears of pain (or joy), Mandela emerged from 27 years of unjust imprisonment transformed. He might very well have been disfigured by bitterness or hatred.<\/p>\n Instead, Madiba\u2019s metamorphosis, wrought by what Archbishop Desmond Tutu described as \u201ca crucible that burned away the dross,\u201d was a thing of indescribable beauty, strength, and divine grace.<\/p>\n He stared fear in the face and overcame it with perseverance, spiritual strength, faith, and love.<\/p>\n When he walked out of Victor Verster Prison on Feb. 11, 1990, he spoke not of victory or revenge, but rather of humility and service.<\/p>\n \u201cI greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all,\u201d Mandela said. \u201cI stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n And he did just that. He led by example for the rest of his days.<\/p>\n After he was elected South Africa\u2019s first black president, he invited his white jailer as a special guest to his inauguration, and he invited the prosecutor who had put him in jail (and sought his execution) to lunch.<\/p>\n Madiba modeled reconciliation and forgiveness personally, politically, and culturally, leading to one of the most astounding events in world history: South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.<\/p>\n The commission gave an entire nation the opportunity to confess its sins, confront its victims and tormentors, ask for forgiveness, and be forgiven.<\/p>\n It was not an opportunity squandered, but seized. The healing that followed is unprecedented and serves as a model for the rest of the world.<\/p>\n Mandela did not wear his faith on his sleeve. He was not a particularly \u201creligious\u201d man, but if you read his life it is impossible not to see the heart of a man who knew the God of love.<\/p>\n After his death, I read something I\u2019d never seen before \u2014 a message Madiba delivered at the 1994 Easter gathering of the Zionist Christian Church. According to Christianity Today<\/a>,<\/em> which posted his comments, Mandela said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Good News borne by our risen Messiah who chose not one race, who chose not one country, who chose not one language, who chose not one tribe, who chose all of humankind!<\/p>\n \u201cEach Easter marks the rebirth of our faith. It marks the victory of our risen Savior over the torture of the cross and the grave,\u201d he said. \u201cOur Messiah, who came to us in the form of a mortal man, but who by his suffering and crucifixion attained immortality.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Messiah, born like an outcast in a stable, and executed like criminal on the cross. Our Messiah, whose life bears testimony to the truth that there is no shame in poverty: Those who should be ashamed are they who impoverish others.<\/p>\n \u201cWhose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being persecuted: Those who should be ashamed are they who persecute others. Whose life proclaims the truth that there is no shame in being conquered: Those who should be ashamed are they who conquer others.<\/p>\n \u201cWhose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being dispossessed: Those who should be ashamed are they who dispossess others. Whose life testifies to the truth that there is no shame in being oppressed: Those who should be ashamed are they who oppress others.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Although he did it infrequently, Mandela, in fact, could<\/em> preach.<\/p>\n But his most powerful eloquence laid not in words, but in his actions. He was imperfect as much as any of us, a fact he acknowledged with characteristic humility when he famously said, \u201cI am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.\u201d<\/p>\n He was no messiah, but his unfathomable strength and boundless willingness to extend grace to others \u2014 perhaps especially to those who don\u2019t deserve it \u2014 seems to have been rooted in the One who came to reconcile all of creation.<\/p>\n I will miss his fierce but quiet dignity. I will yearn for his smile, his warmth, his ever-open arms.<\/p>\n And I, like millions of others now and in the future, will try to the best of my ability and for the rest of my days, to live what he taught us: \u201cIt always seems impossible until it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n Amen.<\/p>\n Go now in peace, Madiba, good and faithful servant. Ndiyakuthanda, Tata.<\/em><\/p>\n THIS COLUMN ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n