#141 – Dick Bernard: Invictus

New Years Eve we decided to go to a movie at the local theatre.
We finally chose “Invictus”, a new Clint Eastwood film about Nelson Mandela and the sport of Rugby and the 1995 World Cup, held in South Africa not long after the fall of Apartheid and Mandela’s release from many years of imprisonment and his election as President of South Africa.
I knew relatively little about those turbulent times in South Africa, nothing at all about Rugby, and, of course, Invictus is simply a film – a dramatization – of a real event.
But Morgan Freeman is a wonderful Mandela, with a great supporting cast, and every aspect of the film was inspiring. Through and after the film, one has to really work to stay stuck in the negative attitude of the impossibility of deep change, forgiveness and reconciliation.
A good review of the film is here.
The text of the poem, Invictus, is here.
If Invictus is accessible in your area, consider going to see it; or keep it in mind for later rental. You will likely leave the film as I did, inspired.
And, personally, think in terms of possibility, rather than impossibility, when considering matters of necessary deep change.
Happy New Year.