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Lately I have been struggling with thoughts around a vision and a calling. I have been wondering in my head how our individual callings are integrated to the collective vision. Like how will you know when you are in the right collective?…will the task in the collective  be inline with your individual vision?  All these thoughts run through my mind, more so when I start to feel off balance. I often wonder if the instability is caused by the misfit in the collective.

The other day, I had a moment of reflection and felt such affirmation listening to Mama Zodwa Zwane speak of Mama Winnie Mandela as a Christian. I suddenly realised how  unexpected it was to hear the spiritual side of this phenomenal woman;it was unexpected because like with most people, we put her in a box and have preconceived ideas of what people like her should subscribe to, what they should believe, these comrades, feminists, lioness amongst the lions. With not much context we conclude on their relationships with God. We forget serving God does not only happen in the church. Every one of us is on a mission and sometimes the mission comes to pass in a collective but truly we are individuals on our own journeys with a yearning for different things in line with whats put in our hearts. A collective is only a puzzle of small pieces coming together. Even when the small pieces are not together they have to be different but complete on their own to make good pieces of a full puzzle. Much like Moses was different from Abraham…. Paul was different from David….

What have I learned from this woman?  I have learned many things but will note just a few today:

  • Be rooted in your truth and know it well. Fight for what you believe in even if everyone around you does not understand why.
  • Praise, worship and serve your God the best way you know how. Conforming to the world standards means nothing if its not what you believe. At the very end, it will be just you and your God.
  • I have often asked myself this question, is there space for feminists in the church. Can the two coexist? Well here lies a feminist who believed in God till the end.
  • Live, not for applause but for self fulfilment. Applause will come but you may never get to see them. It is better to live to satisfy the calling placed in your heart.

Mary the mother of Jesus, Abraham, Moses, Sarah, none of them knew they would be our point of reference today, they lived truthfully to themselves and the mission before them and it turns out it was God’s plan for their lives.  If nothing else this is why I honor Mama Winnie, she bravely fulfilled a mission and that came at a really hefty price.

Here, a  passage from the Psalm of David sang as a dedication at Mama  Winnie Madikizela Mandela’s funeral.

Psalm 46: 1 -7 “God is our refuge and strength,  an ever-present help in trouble.2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

#IamWinnieMandela

ChurchGirl

L.M.