As he lay dying, Nelson Mandela's perilous state keeps my mind and prayers centered on his impending death and passing over.
Like others, I rest on his shoulders.
Those that carried South Africa to nonracial democracy and more in a land of apartheid.
Even after his release from decades in prison, Mandela responded positively to those who asked him if he forgave his unjust accusers who incarcerated him.
If he didn't forgive them, he reportedly said, Mandela would still be in jail.
Keeping vigil is a tradition I cherish.
The pause to ponder gives me moments to reflect on life's travails, aches and joys.
Candle lights come to mind.
After all, Mandela was an illumined light and more.
A courageous prophet to many, Mandela mentored many, and me.
Like the "dean of psychiatry' of the 60s, Karl Menninger was a conscience to America, and more, when he asked in his book, "Whatever Became of Sin?"
In my Motown, Clement Kern, pastor of Holy Trinity in Detroit, MI., was another voice of conscience.
They all speak truth to power.
Unafraid.
Assertive.
Compassionate for those left out, abandoned, excluded and lost.
They all are that, and more.
Thank God for these consciences of America, and the world.
Where are our clarion voices today?
Who stands up anymore in selfless style with such courageous certainty and peaceful resistance?
Who?
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