UNCONQUERED

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." - Nelson Mandela

Last night we watched "Invictus" on the pay-per-view channel. I had seen the previews when the movie was still in theaters, love Morgan Freeman (especially when he plays God), and even had on hand a rugby enthuiastic (my son-in-law) to translate for me.

"Invictus" is not a movie about the Rugby World Cup in 1995 South Africa - it's a movie about the incredible Nelson Mandela.

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

-- William Ernest Henley