"Unkulunkulu, the Ancient One, grew from reeds, or uthlanga, and brought with him people and cattle. Upon his own creation, he created the earth and all of its creatures. He taught the Zulu to make fire and provide food for themselves. He is the beginning of all creation and a part of him lives in everything he created."
- Zulu Creation Story
".....And He saw that it was good...And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day."
- Genesis 1:10 & 23
She was all of three and a half feet tall when she was alive. Her skull showed a smaller brain capacity. We do not know how she died but we do know when she lived. When she was discovered in Ethiopia in1974 she caused a sensation. You see, she was 3 1/2 million years old. More importantly she did not walk on all fours. She stood up, erect, and walked on two feet like us. She was named Lucy (Australopithecus Afarensis) and she changed everything.
The reason she changed so much is Lucy demonstrated humans did not originate in the caves of France or the shores of Java as previously guessed. Lucy was from Africa. Humanity began here, in Africa.
There is an argument that 'human behavior' though originated in Europe . The Eurocentric model proposes that what made us human, organization, tool making, primitive art, etc, started in Europe. This theory held a lot of proponents until the Blombos Cave was discovered here in South Africa in 1991. In the cave, jewelry, tools, bones, and symbolic engravings were found that dated to 77,000 years ago-long in advance of the European cognitive model.
Humans are from Africa. We are all Africans.
And why not? As we have traveled this country and tried to find perspective, we have been overwhelmed by it's beauty. It is easy to feel that perhaps it all began here.
“It feels like God visits everywhere else, but lives in Africa”.
-Will Smith
"I think I know why South Africa has no cathedrals. This place already is one"
-Colleen Dobbs
It is also understandable why so much violence happened here. When you have a land as rich with natural resources and full of such wonders, there will always be those that want to take it for themselves. It is a corrupt world and man's greed and capacity for evil went unchecked here for far too long.
Yet despite the conflict, this land seemed to absorb it. It gave rise to a leader that, although he was tortured beyond endurance, came forward to define to a modern world the meaning of grace. It is true there remains hard and bitter feelings here, but they reside in pockets only now and, in time, will also seep into the soil and go away. Hopefully the same will happen in my own country.
As a young man in the 1980's, I remember the controversy of Paul Simon recording his seminal album Graceland here. People did not want anyone supporting the evil apartheid regime. Simon felt differently, and by using African artists he opened up a generation to seeing this far way land. Graceland remains one of the greatest albums of the 20th century.
So as I have visited many portions of this country the over riding feeling that came over me was that I was visiting the studio of an artist. You know what I am talking about? A room where there is a window for natural light to flow freely. It is cluttered with various unframed canvases leaning against the wall. On the floor there are splotches of paint with a universe of colors. There are brushes of all shapes and sizes. An old frock to wear. It is unkept, yet thoughtful. On the easel there is a work in progress. From the pale cream canvas a figure is emerging.
This is no abstract work. The Artist is working with a sure hand and precise, expressive strokes. There is a determination in the Artist's eye; the imagination is on full display.
"Why not give it a long neck and paint it with spots of dusty orange?", the Artist muses.
This is the Artist's world. It is the work creation emerging in all it's dazzling glory.
This is what it felt like as we explored the Savannah and visited the land. It feels like creation began here and each vista brought new wonders.
There are many important and beautiful places in the world. All have value and contributed to it's beauty. We have shared some them on our journeys.
However, here is where it all began. Here you can feel the moment when the Artist came in the studio, opened the windows to let in the morning light and began to paint.
Carl Sagan, before he died, wrote a classic essay, "The Pale Blue Dot". In exquisite prose he made his case that the Earth is a small insignificant dot sailing through a vast empty Cosmos. That may be true, but what a beautiful dot it is; brimming with life, color, and light!
I would hardly call that insignificant.
Postscript - We are leaving South Africa now, but Episode IX is not over. We are taking the long road back. We will return the the Gulf States for two days, this time Abu Dhabi, and then spend a week in Madrid Spain before turning towards home.
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