Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Essence of Being Human

Nelson Mandela is in hospital. He is 92 years old. This is his phylosophy

Here is the ubuntu philosophy he extols.

“It is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong. It speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion.”A person with Ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous, willing to share. Such people are open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The quality of Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them."

This should be written in the sky across Amerika. Maybe it would help negate all of the naked hate that has gripped this country of late.

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