Scott’s Column–That Good, Wise Face

A few years ago I was at the Benedictine Retreat Center in Schuyler, attending the winter convocation for ministers of the Nebraska Conference.  The topic that year was exploring the Book of Genesis through the lens of the International Declaration on Human Rights.  During one of the recesses I wondered into the room where Soul Desires bookstore was set up.  As I entered the good, wise face of Nelson Mandela was staring at me from the cover of a children’s book.  I bought the book.

I collected children’s books long before Sebastian was born—both as preparation for our children one day and also because they often work well for children’s sermons or even adult sermon illustrations.

When I returned home from the retreat, I sat the book on the piano because I loved the cover portrait of Mandela.  The book stayed in that location for a couple of years.  Most mornings, I’d come down the stairs and say, “Good morning Madiba,” using Mandela’s clan name in its traditional sign of respect.  That gentle smile on that good, wise face made each morning more beautiful.

I may have read the book to Sebastian when he was quite young, but I recall the first time I read it to him and he interacted with the book last May, when he was a little over one year old.  I remember because I posted it on Facebook and Facebook helps us to curate the story of our lives.

As I read the book to him that night last year, he kept turning back to the cover, smiling, and touching the face. When we finished that book and began reading other books, Sebastian had me prop the Mandela book up so he could keep looking at and touching the face. I may have cried a little.

The other night Sebastian selected four books for his bedtime reading—his current favorite Last Stop on Market Street, a children’s version of Moby Dick (his favorite last fall), Goodnight Nebraska, and Nelson Mandela.  As we read the latter, Sebastian kept repeating after me the name “Mandela.”

I then explained to him, as I have done every time we’ve read the book, that this story is about a good, wise man.  “In fact,” I said, “He’s probably the greatest human being to live on this planet during my lifetime.”

I delight in raising my child in a wider world than the one I was raised in.  I hope he becomes an adult committed to a global vision of peace and justice and goodness.  So, I’ll keep reading him these stories of the great and the good people who make the world a better place.