Lessons from Invictus

Watching the movie "Invictus" last night, I was struck again by the power of forgiveness and the strength of character that Mandela exhibits.

If Mandela can forgive the people who put him behind bars for 27 years for fighting for democracy, who are we not to forgive the petty differences that come between us and our family and friends?

Here is the poem that Mandela said saw him through that dark, tough period in his life. May you also draw strength from it and reach out to everyone around you in a spirit of love and forgiveness.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.