My determination to stay kind, amidst all the bad behavior, is impressing even me.
The patience one needs nowadays when the world seems to have their guns out, whether strapped to their thigh or loaded in what they say, may only rival air, bringing me to a story about Nelson Mandela.
I love him to begin with, sharing the same birth date…July 18th.
He and his soldiers, South African’s answer to the Secret Service, were eating in a restaurant when he noticed a man at another table siting alone.
He sent one of his guys over to invite him to eat with them.
The man did, but clearly uncomfortable about it.
He ate very fast, not looking up, hands trembling, before he asked to be excused. Mr. Mandela graciously stood, shook his hand and said, “I’m so glad we got to meet again.”
Turns out, the man was one of his jailers during his 27 years of imprisonment. Whenever he’d ask for water, the man would say…you want water? And then urinate on him.
When asked, how could you be so kind to someone that cruel, Mandela said, “Because life is about forgiveness, and kindness brings light.”
I can’t say enough how that story affected me.
I read that it’s pure fiction, it never happened, but you know what?
An Aesop’s Fable or not, it sure makes its point, now doesn’t it?
SB