A Great Man

Today, I finished a book about Mohandas Gandhi by Louis Fischer. I knew of him before and seen the movie, but after reading about him, I was blown away by this man. A skinny man who toppled giants. A man who united a country with peace. A man who believed fully in the human spirit a man who, although Hindu, hung a crucifix on his wall. When asked why, he said he was Christian, Hindu, Moslem, and Jew. To him, faith was more than all the little differences that we seem to focus on. His group of friends was as well-rounded in beliefs as they were in ethnicity.

With all the fighting going on and the fear, it's wild to think that this one man walked miles and miles and that his followers let armed men beat them without retaliation. Scores of men would watch and then follow, all beaten and all believing in their cause. Gandhi prayed for those who fought him, for those who beat his people. He worked for peace until the day he died and never needed a vacation. He considered his terms in jail restful.

Albert Einstein said of him, "Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever walked upon this earth in flesh and blood." I pray that we remember to believe in the human spirit and that acceptance is necessary. And that to change the world for the better, we must work to change the hearts.