Cry, The Beloved Country

I was in my teens when I first read this amazing book by Alan Paton. Now, 65 years later, I have re-read it and find it just as compelling. There have been tremendous changes in South Africa since he wrote this novel. Apartheid (which came into existence just a year after his book was published) has been abolished and the past 20 years, or so, have brought new hope and many changes to that land.

I wish I could say the same for these United States. Although the blacks have many less restrictions now there is still a vicious hatred against them that smolders just beneath the surface and it is killing our nation. It is almost miraculous that we were able to elect a black President and re-elect him ! However, that may have exacerbated the fear that so many whites seem to feel.

In Cry, The Beloved Country Paton gives an account of the inhumanity of the whites against the blacks of South Africa. He speaks of how the love of gold and power corrupt a country and he is most often remembered by this quote: “But there is only one thing that has power completely, and this is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.”

That is a memorable statement but the one that pierced my heart was at the very end of the novel when the black priest, Theophilus Msimangu “who had no hate for any man” said “I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they turn to loving they will find that we are turned to hating.”

An awfully good description of what is happening in our nation right now ... and it is, indeed, fearful.