Last laugh - 23 July 2008

My dear friends

One of the aspects that the BBC focussed on during Mr Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebrations last week was his praise-singer.

Undoubtedly, the man is a gifted poet and he has just the right voice for this job. Moreover, in a man of Mr Mandela's resume and stature the praise-singer has more than enough material to draw from for the praises.

It is generally accepted that poets are allowed some measure of leverage for exaggeration to drive their point home. I smile as I think that most probably both the praised and the praise-singer sometimes have a private laugh in their closets as they recollect some of the overstated facts and over-dramatised events that come through in the praises.

In one of our Zulu monarch's praises his praise-singer included an interesting statement. He claimed that when the king dies, the mouths of the ants who will have the audacity to devour the corpse of such a great man will rot (izintuthwane ziyobola imilomo).

Now, did the ants' mouths really rot? Unfortunately, that cannot be verified because no one witnessed the ants' underground activities.

Rotten mouths or not, it is indeed humbling, and it should be sobering too, to think that such tiny creatures as ants should have the last laugh as they feast on the royalty, the nobility and commoners alike.

The precious truth is that the last laugh belongs to those who will never die.

Have a blessed week further.
 
Pressing on!
 
In His love
 
Fano Sibisi