Gomolemo: The musical composition
Dumi Mmualefe | Monday August 18, 2014 14:49
Though you are remembered for you unmatched vocal range,
Yet you were neither a musician nor a master composer.
Though you are remembered for the last dance in Serowe,
Still you are neither a musician nor a master composer:
You are music personified; music performed in harmony,
Your life was as rhythmic as a musical piece created through heavenly inspiration.
You are master-piece of musical composition that spices the life of both the singer and the listener.
You are a master-piece of a soothing composition that heals troubled souls
You are music created in a cathedral of unparalleled musicianship.
This music that is you we shall internalise,
This music that is you we shall sing and dance unceasingly.
Death could not stop this music; we shall sing on, for the music has not ended,
It has but sorrowfully sweetened after a transition that implores singing in a dolce!
We will dance on Buddy, we will sing on “That Man.”
The music has not ended; we have come to a “Rest:” to some sweet silent beats.
Go on my brother, go and sing songs whose music is known only by angels!
Death is one of the greatest paradoxes-death is but a pause in life. There is an erroneous assumption that for music to be enjoyed, it has to be heard and probably danced to; there must be some sound arranged in a way pleasing to the ear. Music, however, is not only about sound, music is also about silence.
When the music has stopped music is playing! Music never ceases. Like energy, music only changes in form. So we dance to sound and dance to silence. When we are in silence we appreciate the music of nature, we hear the inner music comparable to no past living or future composers, in silence we hear the divine music of the soul.
As I viewed my Buddy in a state I never fathomed, a state I have never seen him in and never will see him in, I was peace.
Those who had that rare opportunity to see Gomolemo in that state of rest saw him is such a peaceful state unimagined.
Lord, he looked beautifully at peace. With all the suspicions and anger he should have brought, it is peace to a soul that beheld.
We will celebrate and remember Sir G the best way he would have wanted to be celebrated and remembered.
I could not help it, but imagine what he would have said had he been alive and one of his Bakaulengwe met his untimely day the same way he met his. Yes, he would probably have harboured the same suspicions and anger. But he loved this country too much to think of violence as an option.
He would have preached peace as the best weapon.
What is violence if not evidence of human failure and impotence to deal with issues and problems? Suppose the suspicions were to be confirmed, I still hear him eloquently reminding us that one does not burn a house when they are inside it, no matter how angry they are.
Gomolemo was madly in love with this country. He had a dream for this country. He wouldn’t do anything that would have him inherit ashes should his party take over! Violence does not, even now, seem to resonate with his person nor his spirit.
If he lived for peace, he surely cannot die for violence. Violence is self-defeating; it is a button of self-destruction that lives no one unhurt.
While it has to be acknowledged that many people are hurting, that this hurt if not managed can escalate into anger and violence of a magnitude never experienced in this country, it has to be said also that violence always begets its culture in perpetuity.
The winds of political change that have swept the political Africa have left trails of blood. Tunisia, Libya, Egypt are some of the most recent examples of what violence can do. These are more populated countries, we are few and a culture of violence could lead to our extinction.
The responsibility to remain a non-violent people rests with all of us, the government should do all that is necessary to win the confidence of its people that it stands for peace. What the rulers say, especially at this time should be parental enough not to tempt anyone into violence.
So far, there have not been acts of physical violence but there nearly was and we all need to deal with such situations with utmost level headedness and commitment to nationhood.
Jesus the Christ was a champion of non-violence. But he was the most candid when it came to what was just and righteous.
He preached the Kingdom of God as He envisioned it.
He even laid down His life for what He believed and was about. The gospel records an incident where Jesus repaired an enemy’s ear as a demonstration the futlity of violence.
I will continue to pray for this country, to pray and work for justice and peace. I urge the church and Batswana across political divide to stand against all forms of violence by all; be they state, opposition or individuals.
Those in positions of power, however, have a greater moral responsibility to ensure no one finds reason to be violent! Violence is music gone eerie. To God be the glory!