Disclaimer: This is not meant to be political or to get into the details or questions about how "good" of a man Nelson Mandela was. He was not perfect, as we are not perfect. I understand there is some controversy here.
I just wanted to share my insights regarding the positive impacts he had in his lifetime in regards to equality and what I observed about his suffering in prison for 27 years. He learned some lessons and made some positive conscious choices through his time of suffering that we can learn from if we look at the broader perspective and remove ourselves from the political and controversial aspects.
I think many of us wonder why we suffer. Everyone suffers in some way, shape or form during their life on this planet. And we may have heard this before, that it's to learn our lessons. But now I really see it. Suffering does play a role in learning lessons, but it is also about staying very conscious about making the best choices for our highest good and the highest good of others in every moment, even in the middle of our suffering. And, the suffering often has a purpose that is for the Greatest Good of all. We are all one, we are all connected, so we are all affected by the suffering of others. In the case of Nelson Mandela, he suffered in prison for 27 years but stayed on his path of Truth along the way. He did not choose to become bitter and angry about his situation in the end. He made the choice to become kinder and more loving and came out a better man than when he went it. And, through being in prison, his cause for equality spread around the World, resulting in millions of people coming together to support him and to support equality. If he did not end up in prison, he may not have learned the lessons he learned to become a better man. And the number of supporters and the spread of his cause for equality may not have been as great. There was a higher purpose to his suffering that impacted the World. There is a higher purpose to our suffering, and by making the conscious choice to learn from it and move forward in light and love and for the highest good, we can also make a difference for the better.
So, this video blog is just a rambling of my thoughts about this and what I realized or better understood about life and suffering (not about Nelson Mandela personally) as I watched the story of Nelson Mandela on Sunday Morning today.
Note: I cut out the first couple minutes of my intro and random rambles to make the video fit into the 15 minute slot. So it starts out a little abruptly.
Much Love and Light! - Melanie
Thanks for your sharing--Love what you are doing. As I was listening I wrote the following thoughts, much of which in the next few minutes of the video you also expressed! Sweet..So here's what I wrote:
ReplyDeleteI would say in ALL CASES of apparent suffering and loss there IS a higher purpose. We live with blinders on most of the time. As we pray, meditate, live in the now, study and learn to love, we connect with our higher purpose, connect with the underlying love that IS all that is. Our journey is the journey of learning to remove those blinders, and see the deeper, often hidden, truth that Love Is All There Is. Mandela learned that lesson through his circumstances and made the right choices. Every day millions of people are doing that too, in their own way, on their own path. The good news is that We Are One--so when one person, great or small, makes the choice for Love, we all benefit. Wow.....
Thank you Melanie! This was beautifully stated. Thanks for sharing it with me.
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