Out of the mouths ...

LITTLE children, I believe, often have more wisdom than adults. Recently, a nine-year-old boy looked at me with big eyes and said, “What if people in South Africa were nice to each other for just one day?”

This little boy, disillusioned by the violence, hatred and insults which have become part of South Africa, through his youthful innocence yearns for something most adults have probably discarded by now – if ever they coveted such hopes or ideals – due to disillusionment and a weariness which belies the possibility that anything can be different.

“Mmm,” I replied. “And what if they were nice to each other for a second day?”

His eyes lit up. “Maybe then it would go on for a third day and a fourth day and maybe it would last forever,” he grinned.

A cynic might laugh at this boy’s naivety and regard his words as an impossibility in a country which seems torn apart by hurt, anger and despair.

But think about it. What if we did take just one day to ‘walk in each other’s shoes’?

What if we tried to find out the challenges and difficulties of someone’s life and how that impacted on their actions, fears, concerns and hopes? What if we took a moment to try to understand instead of just to condemn?

What if, instead of becoming enraged, bitter and twisted, we took a step back to see the majority of South Africans actually want the same thing – a better life for themselves and future generations. What if we blocked out any emotion but kindness – just for a day – to see whether that would make a difference.

I am not naïve. I am very aware that this country faces a lot of challenges, many which seem to be insurmountable even to the most patriotic. I am also very aware of the number of people who are so torn up by negative emotions that they feel unable to get past it and to reach out a hand to their fellow South Africans.

I also know, however, that this country belongs to the children, including that nine-year-old with his wide, trusting eyes. He believes that it is possible to make South Africa a place where people are, first and foremost, kind to each other and that that will pave the way for a better, more peaceful and tolerant country. And I choose to believe that too.

Victor E Frankl, who survived the Holocaust, once wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Is there any more that can be said?