In memoriam

Was the rain symbolic, were the heavens weeping, were the gods unhappy at the passing of Mandela and wished to show ordinary mortals that the occasion had a wider dimension.
The so called great and the good were gathering, walking through the heavy rain into the austere environs of the FNB stadium. Leaders and past leaders, people who had been involved in the freedom movement people who had supported the anti- apartheid movement from the safety of distant countries, rock stars, fund raisers people who, we who lived there, felt were totally misguided and had been brain washed not to understand the other side of the political coin.
The white man's contribution was air brushed out, brushed aside, in fact vilified in favour of ideology. We continue to be nonplussed by the virtual silence the media brings to the mis-governance of the country !!
It was interesting how, when the various South African dignitaries were announced the crowd cheered. Winny Mandela, and the previous president Thabo Mbeki received the loudest cheer, even De Klerk had a strong acknowledgement but President Zuma when announced he was greeted by boos.
I was also intrigued by the blessing given by the four faiths Jewish, Muslim, Hinduism, and Anglican. For me the one which rang true was the Hindu in his simple description of life's journey without the complexity of the story of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Koran. The Jewish rabbi went into great detail quoting passages from the Old Testament much of it highly problematic and indulgent of his faith. The Muslim preacher was more to the point but was hardly inclusive. The Anglican Bishop of Cape Town was very measured, very dignified but of course also relied on biblical structure which in the end raises more questions than answers. No, I liked the Hindu who's feet were on the ground who's message was about the insignificance of our desires and the inevitability of the circle of birth and death.
I was very impressed my Mandela's wife Grace Machel. She was clearly deeply effected by his death but she was so serene and looked the picture of a First Lady, she was never caught by the camera in anything but a deep sombre mood. The speeches were, as when ever you give a politician an opportunity and a platform to practice his trade, repetitious and coming from some of them, hollow.
President Obarma made a significant appeal to keep the spirit of Mandela alive to be inclusive of the opposition view point to keep in mind the whole of society and not purely the interests of the influential. Of course the American President holds court over a political system that encourages massive influence from "special interest groups " and has done little to dismantle Guantanamo Bay, one of the most public hell holes, where a man's human rights defined by the American Constitution is flouted by sit'ing the detention camp on foreign territory.
I wonder when he pronounces on his ideals does his conscience trouble him or is that a political oxymoron ?