It's on virtually every newscast, here and around the world. The death of Nelson Mandela. First Black president of South Africa - where the 90% Black majority had never had the right to vote. Or many other basic human rights, for that matter.
Four American Presidents, the head of the United Nations, the leaders of scores of nations - they will all be there this week to honor him at his memorial service.
But beyond all the tributes of the powerful, Nelson Mandela has a message for me.
About how to be truly free.
Because what changed his nation can help change ours. It can change a family. A feud. A fractured relationship.
I remember when Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by our government. But now, he is lauded as one of the great - maybe the greatest - leaders of our time.
He was imprisoned when he finally resorted to violence to end apartheid. A policy that empowered 10% of the population to suppress the 90%. I visited South Africa during that time and it felt like a nation at war.
And I was there after a worldwide outcry brought about his release. After 27 years of crippling imprisonment. Within four years, the walls of apartheid came crashing down. And stunningly, Nelson Mandela had been elected the leader of his nation.
But the Mandela that came out of prison was not the same man who went in. The younger Mandela was full of hate and bitterness for what had been done to his people.
But something happened. Something that changed him - and ultimately saved a nation.
He forgave.
He said, "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison."
Man, that's powerful. Unforgiveness means the very person who hurt us, in a sense, controls us. With our permission. We can't stop thinking about them. We continually replay what they did to us, thus insuring that it will also poison our present and our future.
But forgiving cuts the rope that ties us to the hurts and the hurters of the past.
As President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela was suddenly in the power position.
With the power to get even. To punish. But instead, he reached out to those who had been his "enemies." Speaking their language. Including them in his government. Embracing one of the most despised symbols of the white-dominated past - the national rugby team.
And a nation that was poised to explode into a race war became a beacon of reconciliation.
Nelson Mandela's journey to forgiveness was played out on a global stage. Mine isn't.
But the stakes for me and my little personal world are just as high.
Will I keep letting unforgiveness make me a prisoner of the pain of my past? Will I continue to risk poisoning the people close to me with the bitterness I'm harboring? Will I let the healing begin by trying to build a bridge where there's been a wall for a long time?
Poet Maya Angelou said in an interview, "It is a gift to yourself to forgive and I would say that Nelson Mandela's gift to the world was his ability to forgive." It's a gift we need to reach out for - and then start giving.
One man's forgiving may have saved a nation. It can help save a marriage. A relationship with a parent or a child. An group, a church, an organization.
Forgiving is hard. Not forgiving is even harder.
Unforgiveness is a prison. Forgiveness sets people free. Most of all, the forgiver.
I know the power of forgiveness. Because I am the forgiven.
By Someone I have sinned against over and over again. Jesus. Who paid a price for what I've done that went far beyond a prison sentence. It was a death sentence.
The Bible says "He was pierced...crushed...His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man" (Isaiah 53:5, 6; 52:14). Beyond that was what happened in His soul. God's Son was cut off from God the Father. Because that's the price for rebellion against God. Not His. Mine. He was cut off from God so I would never have to be.
And "everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name" (Acts 10:43). I did put my trust in Him. My sins are erased from God's book forever.
Is it any wonder that Nelson Mandela celebrated in an Easter Sunday speech "the victory of our risen Savior?" When you've experienced the blood-bought forgiving of Jesus, how can you help but "forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13).
