The Light of Hope Never Dimmed

During Advent, we are challenged anew to be the hope so many find hard to hold onto when the journey toward light and hope is long and difficult.

On March 21, 1960, In what became known as the “Sharpeville Massacre,” South African police officers opened fire without warning on a crowd of up to 5000 Black and Colored South Africans protesting the most recent “pass” laws imposed by the white government. Many were killed or wounded, and several were paralyzed for life. The victims, including men, women, and children, were shot in their backs as they tried to flee. The day marked the beginning of the end of the Apartheid rule decades later. Many more suffered and died. The light of hope never dimmed.

In May 1994, a week after Nelson Mandela was inaugurated to the presidency of the new Republic of South Africa, I was invited to Sharpeville to participate in a worship celebration commemorating the formation of the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa, a merger of the Black and Colored congregations that had been “mission churches” of the White Dutch Reformed Church.

When we arrived, my driver said, “pastor, walk with me.” We entered a field across the road from the church. We walked in silence as he looked about. Finally, he spoke quietly. “This is the field of the massacre. This is where my wife and children died.” We stood for a long time, silent, he with his memories of that awful day. He turned and said, “Thank you, pastor. We can go into the church now.”

At the service, I spoke briefly about the partnership the Reformed Church in America and the new Uniting Church shared during the hard years now past and about our hope for their future ministry.

The director of the massed choirs from the surrounding churches stood, “For decades, they tried to take everything from us. They killed our spouses and children. They crippled our young. They imprisoned and tortured us. But they could never take from us our hope and our voices.” The choirs burst into song, “We Are Walking in the Light of God” (“Siyahamb’ ekukhanyen’ Kwenkhos”). The congregation was on its feet singing, tears of grief and joy and lament intertwined as it often is with gratitude and hope. For half a century, they had lived under the yoke of oppression sanctioned by the church and enforced by the state. On this night, the light shone in their hearts and voices.

“Singing in the dark,
Calling up the day,
Joining with the voices,
Opening the way,
Sitting here in vigil,
Waiting for the spark,
That bursts into being,
Singing in the dark.”

-Carrie Newcomer —

Shared by Reverend Kenneth Bradsell

****If you would like to learn more about Sharpeville and virtually visit the memorial gardens, explore here. https://www.greeninc.co.za/sharpeville-memorial