Fare thee well uTata Madiba, fare thee well.
In life you brought us change for which we had hungered, suffered and even laid down lives. In your leadership you urged us to embrace peace even as our blood boiled and our anger threatened to overflow our sensibilities.
Every time news of your health was announced we held our breath, fearful that you might breathe your last. Yet you prepared us slowly, gently to accept that one day you will go to rest, as we all will, in good time.
So here we are, feeling a deep sense of loss on the one hand, but filled with a sense of completion on the other. You transformed the mood of our country by your wisdom and perseverance thus teaching us to seize every moment, every emotion and rather than be seized by it.
These past days we have traveled, yet again, through your life's journey. We have arrived at a new place in time. These moments will never return and neither will those that you suffered and triumphed. We are a few days older but compared to yesteryears, this period has been renewing. Your words, the songs in your favor, speeches and tributes paid to you have been our company, the balm to our grieving spirits.
Today we celebrate your life. In passing on your life has broadened our horizons even wider, embracing the entire world whose leadership, encapsulated in over one hundred heads of state, uTata Madiba, graced your memorial service today, watched, in awe, by an admiring, appreciative global community. On five continents your name is revered because despite your pain and suffering your unprecedented heart of forgiveness ushered in a new era for South Africa, for Africa and indeed the world. In your own humble way, uTata Madiba, you ushered in a common currency; that of forgiveness and reconciliation. Not by talking about it, by living it. Oh, that we whom you've left behind, from the hallowed halls of the United Nations to the historic streets of Soweto, might embrace this goodness; this basic lesson in humanity.
Thank you, uTata Madiba, thank you. You gave us stature in the world; provided lessons that the world can take from this sub-continent; lessons that are universal because they embrace humanity; gave us a platform upon which we can proudly say, in the spirit of Ubuntu, "We are because you were".
In the words of President Barack Obama, you have inspired us, each one of us to be a better man, a better woman, a better human being.
Our gratitude knows no bounds. Because of your sacrifice we now live in peace. We pray that you will now, in turn, rest in peace.
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