奥巴马在曼德拉追思礼拜的演讲：愿上帝赐福他的灵魂和南非民众

 12月9日，曼德拉的追思礼拜在约翰内斯堡南非国家体育馆隆重举行。当天的追思礼拜可以说不仅仅在南非算是史无前例的规模，而且也是举世瞩目的一场世界性葬礼仪式，全球近百位国家元首到，同时还有86个国际组织和70多名世界名人和明星参加。

当天，奥巴马被邀请致辞。一位黑人总统向一位为南非与世界和平做出卓越贡献的黑人领袖致辞，加上奥巴马本身精彩的演讲才华，使此演讲成为难得的佳品。

诺丁汉大学当代中国学学院院长、经济学博导姚树洁解读与点评奥巴马这篇悼词时，赞叹说：“奥巴马在整个悼词中，有许多原创亮点。其文本和笔法，堪称世界一流。加上奥巴马讲话的感召力，可以说奥巴马为黑人世界增光添彩。一个刚过世的，被全世界的人所认可和爱戴的黑人领袖曼德拉，加上一个活生生的，当今世界第一强国美国的总统奥巴马精彩的悼词，使得2013年12月10日是世界黑人最为光彩夺目的日子。”

基督时报编辑为您收集了这场演讲的中英文文本，与大家共享。

中文：

奥巴马：谢谢各位！非常感谢大家！首先我想向曼德拉家族成员、祖马总统、尊敬的各位各国的代表们、尊敬的各位嘉宾，我觉得我今天非常荣幸在此参加曼德拉的追思礼拜，来纪念这一个卓越非凡的人。各位南非的人民们，来自各行各业的人，全世界感谢你们，让你们的国度诞生了曼德拉这位伟人，他的一生是伟大的一生，是你们的尊容。而他为你们获得了自由和民主，这是他留下的宝贵财富。我们现在难以用言语去表达我们对曼德拉的热爱，很难用一些数据、事实去描绘一个人的一生。我们用很多不同的事让我们心意相连。

在这个艰难的时刻，在历史的重要时刻，我们要让一个国家走向正义是需要突破艰难险阻的。在一家之中出生，生于权利之家，他在部落里面成长起来。曼德拉是20世纪最伟大的自由的斗士，而他引领了反非自由运动，而这个运动也获得了成功。就像马丁.路德.金博士一样，他代表那些被压迫的人们发出了声音，引领他们追求正义。而他忍受了监狱的苦难，忍受了不幸和磨难，而直到冷战终结。

在他从监狱获得自由之后，他把国家又重新团结起来，就像林肯 总统那样，他是国家的缔造者，他为下一代人建立了自由的基础。而他为国家塑造起来了民主和法治的基础，而且在一任总统任期之后就自愿选择从权利的高位下退出。在他的一生当中他取得了辉煌的成就。

我们记得曼德拉是我们图标性的榜样，是我们的领袖，他永远带着微笑，但同时他又是坚强的自强不息的斗士。但是曼德拉也与我们分享他的疑惑，还有在他的一些光辉成就当中的疑虑。他说，如果你觉得所谓的圣人就是虽然犯错但是永不放弃的人，而他也承认他的不完美。他有着幽默感，即使他身负重担但是仍然微笑着面对生活。他是有血有肉的真实的一个人，有着自己的情感，他既是一位导师，又是我们亲密的朋友，这是我们为什么从他身上学习到如此多的东西。

他的成就是卓越的，是无与伦比的，在他的一生当中我们看到了他不屈不挠的斗争，他的勇气、信仰、耐心和坚持，他向我们展示了人类的潜力，不仅是历史上一些光辉的章节，而是我们看到的实实在在的成就，他也让我们看到了行动的力量。看到了他为理想所付出的艰辛的努力，从曼德拉身上我们看到了，他从他的父亲那里继承了勇气和不懈斗争的精神。而为成千上万的人争取尊严，即使他在监狱当中也心怀人民。就像我们历史上的巨人一样，他跨越了艰险。

曼德拉控制了愤怒，而是抛出了仇恨，让人们可以获得和解，可以重寻人的尊严。即使他面临着艰难，但是他帮助我们一同去寻求正义。他说，我为了白人的统治和黑人的统治都征战过、奋斗过、抗争过，我是希望所有的人能够平等自由的生活着。正是在这样的理想之下我们希望能够把他的精神传承下来，我会为我所热爱的人们，为他们做好风险的准备。

曼德拉向我们展示了行动的成就，他告诉了我们思考和理性的重要性，他告诉我们不仅要去坚持赞同的人，同时要去尊重他们即使反对人的意见。而且他把自己的经历作为磨炼，他把他的知识传授下去，影响他人。他在奋斗的过程当中不断地学习，这样才能够向人们展示打破了种族隔离的自由是多么宝贵和重要。

曼德拉向我们展示出了想法，仅仅有想法是不够的。不管想法有多么正确，同时也要受到法律和制度的运输。他非常实际，把自己的信仰在实践当中和历史情况当中加以实验。但是在核心价值观方面是绝不动摇的，所以说他也提醒我们即便是身处牢狱当中也可以有奋斗精神。但是他在监狱当中仍然制订法律，而且不为了个人的利益而牺牲大的原则。而且他也创造了南非的《宪法》，创造了反种族制度的民主，保护了少数人的利益及大多数的利益，以及每一个南非人的自由权利。

最终曼德拉代表了人类精神的纽带，在南非有这样一个词，这个词其实就描绘了曼德拉最伟大的天赋，他意识到人类永远有一条看不到的纽带连接在一起，但是人性是统一的。我们在传承精神的过程当中能够实现自我，我们永远不知道这样的力量有多强，是不是这样的力量支撑他在幽暗的监狱当中坚持奋斗。但是他却在救人总统的时候向全世界人介绍他的监狱看守，他把他家人离世的心痛转化为爱滋病寻找救治方法的努力。他不仅代表了伟大，还教会了这么多人如何在自在寻找真理。就是像曼德拉这样的人能够解放不仅是囚犯，同时能够解放看守囚犯的人。而且教会其他人如何信任自己，而且他教给我们和解不是一条残忍的道路，而是通过包容、宽大和真理来化解这些分歧，他改变了法律，也改变了人心。

对于南非的民众来说，对于那些全球范围内受过他激励的人，曼德拉的离世绝对是无比悲痛的时刻，他们都在为他哀悼，庆祝英雄般的一生。但是我相信这也是我们每个人自省的一刻，我们必须要贪嗔地面对自己，无论外界条件如何都要问自己我们有没有在自己的生活当中运用到曼德拉的精神，运用到他教给我们的品质。我自己也在思考，作为一个总统、作为一个人，我们知道像南非那样，美国也有过种族制度的统治，我们也为此斗争和奋斗长达几十年。正是那些知名和不知名的人奋斗才有今天，我的夫人和我正是这种成果的受益者。但是在美国，还有在南非，以及全球各国，我们不能够允许我们的进步遮蔽这样的事实，就是我们的工作尚未完成，仍然任重而道远。

实现平等的路上仍然有很多工作要做，可能没有过去来的那么排山倒海，但是仍然有很多的工作要做。我们现在仍然看到孩子们忍饥挨饿死于疾病，我们看到学校被炸毁，看到年轻人完全看不到未来的希望，在世界各国我们看到有许多人仍然因为他们的政治信仰而入狱。仍然因为他们的宗教信仰，因为他们的兴趣，因为他们所爱的人而蒙受牢狱之灾，现在这种情况仍然在发生。所以我们也必须为了公正而战，为公正而行动，为和平而行动。现在还有太多的人没有能够获得曼德拉所取得的成就的问责，他们仍然经受着种族歧视的煎熬，仍然生活在水深火热贫困当中。

曼德拉致力于自由，有很多领导说是维护曼德拉的价值观，但是却不能够宽容的对待他们自己的民众。而我们有很多人在边线当中生活，我们就坐在一旁，却没有发出自己的声音。我们的声音必须要听到我们当前面临的问题，比如说推动和平和公正，如何推动自由和人权，如何结束纷争以及战争。这一些问题不好解答，也不好解决，但是很多问题都不好解答。比如说在一战当中出生了曼德拉，也业面临着那么多的难题，但是他却会在解决问题之前不断地奋斗，直到一切解决为止。南非展示给我们，我们可以变化，我们可以建造这样一个世界，根基不是我们之间的差异，而是我们之间的共同点；不是纷争，而是机会和和平。我们无法再见到曼德拉了，但是我想告诉南非的年轻人，以及世界各国的年轻人。你们也可以使他的人生变成你们自己的。

在三十年前我还是一个学生，我学习了曼德拉的事迹了，了解了他在南非国土上所做出的奋斗。当时点燃了我身体当中的某些信念，使我想到了我的责任对我自己和其他人的责任，使我踏上这样一条旅程，一直到我今天所在的位置。我永远无法成为像曼德拉那样伟大的人，但是他让我想成为更好的人。他能唤醒我们每个人心中最美好的部分。

他这个伟大的自由斗士已然安息，我们会回到各自的生活和工作岗位，重新开始我们的日常生活。在这个过程当中让我们继续找寻他的力量，找寻他伟大的精神，就在我们自己的心中，在我们自己的体内找到他的这种精神。当我们的心上仍然受到不公正的负担，似乎美好的远景无法实现，在这些时候让我们想想曼德拉，还有他刻在监狱墙壁上的字。不管惩罚多么严厉，我仍然会掌握我自己的命运，我是我灵魂的船长，多么伟大的灵魂啊。

我们深切地思念他，愿上帝保佑曼德拉的灵魂，愿上帝保佑南非民众！ 

英文：（来自于白宫官网）

Remarks by President Obama at Memorial Service for Former South African President Nelson Mandela

First National Bank Stadium
Johannesburg, South Africa

1:31 P.M. SAST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; to President Zuma and members of the government; to heads of states and government, past and present; distinguished guests -- it is a singular honor to be with you today, to celebrate a life like no other.  To the people of South Africa -- (applause) -- people of every race and walk of life -- the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us.  His struggle was your struggle.  His triumph was your triumph.  Your dignity and your hope found expression in his life.  And your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy.

It is hard to eulogize any man -- to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person -- their private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone’s soul.  How much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world.

Born during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by the elders of his Thembu tribe, Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century.  Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement -- a movement that at its start had little prospect for success.  Like Dr. King, he would give potent voice to the claims of the oppressed and the moral necessity of racial justice.  He would endure a brutal imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev, and reached the final days of the Cold War.  Emerging from prison, without the force of arms, he would -- like Abraham Lincoln -- hold his country together when it threatened to break apart.  And like America’s Founding Fathers, he would erect a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations -- a commitment to democracy and rule of law ratified not only by his election, but by his willingness to step down from power after only one term.

Given the sweep of his life, the scope of his accomplishments, the adoration that he so rightly earned, it’s tempting I think to remember Nelson Mandela as an icon, smiling and serene, detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men.  But Madiba himself strongly resisted such a lifeless portrait.  (Applause.)  Instead, Madiba insisted on sharing with us his doubts and his fears; his miscalculations along with his victories.  “I am not a saint,” he said, “unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection -- because he could be so full of good humor, even mischief, despite the heavy burdens he carried -- that we loved him so.  He was not a bust made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood -- a son and a husband, a father and a friend.  And that’s why we learned so much from him, and that’s why we can learn from him still.  For nothing he achieved was inevitable.  In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness, and persistence and faith.  He tells us what is possible not just in the pages of history books, but in our own lives as well.

Mandela showed us the power of action; of taking risks on behalf of our ideals.  Perhaps Madiba was right that he inherited, “a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn sense of fairness” from his father.  And we know he shared with millions of black and colored South Africans the anger born of, “a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments…a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people,” he said.

But like other early giants of the ANC -- the Sisulus and Tambos -- Madiba disciplined his anger and channeled his desire to fight into organization, and platforms, and strategies for action, so men and women could stand up for their God-given dignity.  Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions, knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price.  “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination.  I’ve cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and [with] equal opportunities.  It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.  But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”  (Applause.)

Mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you don’t agree with.  He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet.  He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and his passion, but also because of his training as an advocate.  He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement.  And he learned the language and the customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depend upon his.  (Applause.)

Mandela demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough.  No matter how right, they must be chiseled into law and institutions.  He was practical, testing his beliefs against the hard surface of circumstance and history.  On core principles he was unyielding, which is why he could rebuff offers of unconditional release, reminding the Apartheid regime that “prisoners cannot enter into contracts.”

 But as he showed in painstaking negotiations to transfer power and draft new laws, he was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal.  And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skillful politician, the Constitution that emerged was worthy of this multiracial democracy, true to his vision of laws that protect minority as well as majority rights, and the precious freedoms of every South African.

And finally, Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit.  There is a word in South Africa -- Ubuntu -- (applause) -- a word that captures Mandela’s greatest gift:  his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him, or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell.  But we remember the gestures, large and small -- introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration; taking a pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS -- that revealed the depth of his empathy and his understanding.  He not only embodied Ubuntu, he taught millions to find that truth within themselves. 

It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well -- (applause) -- to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you; to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth.  He changed laws, but he also changed hearts.

For the people of South Africa, for those he inspired around the globe, Madiba’s passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to celebrate a heroic life.  But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection.  With honesty, regardless of our station or our circumstance, we must ask:  How well have I applied his lessons in my own life?  It’s a question I ask myself, as a man and as a President. 

We know that, like South Africa, the United States had to overcome centuries of racial subjugation.  As was true here, it took sacrifice -- the sacrifice of countless people, known and unknown, to see the dawn of a new day.  Michelle and I are beneficiaries of that struggle.  (Applause.)  But in America, and in South Africa, and in countries all around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not yet done. 

The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality or universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before, but they are no less important.  For around the world today, we still see children suffering from hunger and disease.  We still see run-down schools.  We still see young people without prospects for the future.  Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs, and are still persecuted for what they look like, and how they worship, and who they love.  That is happening today.  (Applause.)

And so we, too, must act on behalf of justice.  We, too, must act on behalf of peace.  There are too many people who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality.  There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people.  (Applause.)  And there are too many of us on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard.

The questions we face today -- how to promote equality and justice; how to uphold freedom and human rights; how to end conflict and sectarian war -- these things do not have easy answers.  But there were no easy answers in front of that child born in World War I.  Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done.  South Africa shows that is true.  South Africa shows we can change, that we can choose a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes.  We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.

We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again.  But let me say to the young people of Africa and the young people around the world -- you, too, can make his life’s work your own.  Over 30 years ago, while still a student, I learned of Nelson Mandela and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land, and it stirred something in me.  It woke me up to my responsibilities to others and to myself, and it set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today.  And while I will always fall short of Madiba’s example, he makes me want to be a better man.  (Applause.)  He speaks to what’s best inside us.

After this great liberator is laid to rest, and when we have returned to our cities and villages and rejoined our daily routines, let us search for his strength.  Let us search for his largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves.  And when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, when our best-laid plans seem beyond our reach, let us think of Madiba and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of his cell:  “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.”

What a magnificent soul it was.  We will miss him deeply.  May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela.  May God bless the people of South Africa.  (Applause.)

END

1:50 P.M. SAST