Went to the movie “Invictus” tonight starring Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon and Directed by Clint Eastwood.

Not much of a rugby fan but went for the wisdom of Nelson Mandela, the first ever black South African President. He inspired a losing national rugby team to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which in turn united the whole country for one common goal in an apartheid torn country.

This poem “Invictus” inspired Nelson Mandela while he was imprisoned. The same poem inspired the captain of the Rugby Team.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

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.

I wish you the same inspiration I received from it and I also wish you a Merry Christmas and the Happiest New Year…. FRED