8th December 2013

 Yes, the month of December is upon us and Advent has begun with all the promises of hope that it brings.  This is our Advent wreath – candles in a clay pot filled with sand, and a clay vase holding some greenery.  Most trees are beginning to bloom and/or leaf out now so we know that the rain isn’t too far away.  It can’t come soon enough to relieve the heat.

We celebrated a birthday in our house on Monday by going to a winery about 40 kms. away and having a nice tour.  We drove just a few km toward Morogoro on the tarmac road and then turned in, so most of the journey was on a fairly well maintained dirt road.  There isn’t much to see along the way until we got to Hombolo, and there we found a beautiful training college and not too far away the winery that we had gone to see.  We had a good tour, sipping wine along the way, and enjoyed learning a bit more about wine making.  There are vineyards all around the winery, and small farmers grow grapes to sell for the wine production.  We were told that they use all the grapes that are sold to them and have a bigger market for their wine than they can produce for.  And the wine is good!

The death of Nelson Mandela has been the big news this week.  I admire him so much for his peacefulness and patience and spirit of forgiveness and for all that he endured in order that the people of South Africa and others could be free from apartheid.  I have so many memories of solidarity with the South African struggle.  One is from the years that I worked in California, in the late 70’s.  We had our meager amount of money in an account in the Bank of America.  We learned that the Bank of America was investing in South Africa (when responsible corporations were not doing so, in order to bring down the apartheid system) and so we wrote a letter explaining that we were withdrawing our funds from their bank and marched down to withdraw our money.  Of course it was simply a gesture since the amount of money we had in that account was peanuts!  But gestures were made because of principles.

Another thing we did as Maryknoll Sisters in Tanzania in the 80’s was to fast and pray one day a week in order that Nelson Mandela be set free.  We were faithful to that until that day in 1990 when he walked out of jail.  I remember sitting in Olkokola and crying when I heard that news that he was actually free.  And even now when I drive to Morogoro  I pass the places and remember where so many  South Africans found refuge in Tanzania during those years when it was dangerous to struggle against the government.  And it was to Tanzania that Nelson Mandela came soon after he was freed, in order to thank the people and government of Tanzania for their support.

A couple of years ago, on the 20^th anniversary of his release, I wrote a poem and in memory of his passing, here it is (hey, if Maya Angelou can do it so can I!):

IN PRAISE OF A JUSTICE SEEKER

It’s 20 years now,

After 27 years then.

Mandela is free,

South Africa is free.

Before then the risk of death was in front of his eyes,

Imminent as system changer lives danger.

 

Now death, peaceful death of a free man,

Is in him, as old age, long-lived life, claims its own.

Praise to the brave, praise to the weak-strong,

One who shows us how to live,

Praise to followers in his footsteps.

His life, our gift.

2010

(on the 20^th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison)