"My Life is in Your Hands."

You don't have to worry
And don't you be afraid
Joy comes in the morning
Troubles they don't last always
For there's a friend in Jesus
Who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken
Just lift your hands and say

Oh
I know that I can make it
I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands...

~Kirk Franklin.
-----------------
SOWETO, South Africa:

President Obama is losing the crowd at Nelson Mandela's funeral.

Too wordy, no passion. He should have spoken from the heart, or should seek out new speechwriters. Less is more, less is more...

He's reading it, but not feeling it.
Preaching, but not reaching.
Telling us, but not truly celebrating the life...

Picking up steam, picking up steam...

Now he's talking, Mal says. "A little bit of heart..."

"... his oppressors... so he might teach them, 'Their freedom depended on his.'"
...
"We are all bound together in ways, invisible to the eyes..." *
....
"We will never know... how much was innate in him, and how much was shaped in a dark, solitary cell...

Free the inmates,
free the guards.

We too must act on behalf of peace.
...
There are too many leaders who claim solidarity... but do not tolerate dissent, from their own people...and there are too many of us, too many of us on the sidelines" complacent in cynicism...

"These things do not have easy answers."
But there were no easy answers to that child, born in World War I Qunu ...

Peace
Justice
Opportunity

He's hitting his stride a bit here, late...

"You too can make his life's work your own."

(Scales: mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi... the crowd quiets)

"He makes me want to be a better man."

(cheers again, as the speech looks outward, not inward...)

"I am the master of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.
And what a magnificent soul it was..."

God bless.

---------------

ADDED: BusinessWeek online has the transcript up already:

... Mandela taught us the power of action, but also ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those you agree with, but those who you don’t. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and passion, but also his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depended upon his.
...
Finally, Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa- Ubuntu - that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us. We can never know how much of this was innate in him, or how much of was shaped and burnished in a dark, solitary cell. But we remember the gestures, large and small - introducing his jailors as honored guests at his inauguration; taking the pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS - that revealed the depth of his empathy and understanding. He not only embodied Ubuntu; he taught millions to find that truth within themselves. It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailor as well; to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you; to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion, generosity and truth. He changed laws, but also hearts.
...
We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard.
...
The questions we face today - how to promote equality and justice; to uphold freedom and human rights; to end conflict and sectarian war - do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child in Qunu. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows us that is true. South Africa shows us we can change. We can choose to live in a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.