Hope this finds you all safe – I’m sure you are all fed up and frustrated like the rest of us. Who needs this?
This is just a brief note to say that I am thinking of you. The Shelter’s a good place to be. I was there about a year ago and met all sorts of incredible youth and dedicated staff. I loved the way the sunlight shone through the place, and the way everyone gathers (I’m sure physically distant these days) to share meals.
There’s a brief poem that Nelson Mandela recited over and over when he was locked up for 27 years during the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
When I’ve gone through difficult times, I’ve re-read it, and find it gives me strength. You guys probably know it –it’s “Invictus” by William Henley. It starts off kind of dark, but I love that rousing ending!
Here goes:
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.
Take care, all you “unconquerable souls”.
