"Still, I often wonder how C.P. and I both changed enough that we were able to work together—to even be friends. In church the preacher says that if you want to be like Jesus you must be “born again.” That really is the only way I can describe it. Something came into our lives those two weeks we spent working together on the “Save Our Schools” meetings. The blinders came off and we both saw that our fighting one another wasn’t doing anything to help the children. We didn’t become friends because we wanted to. What happened, really, was we saw how much we had in common. Then we couldn’t imagine not being friends. 

But we couldn’t be friends without forgiving one another. That’s what Mandela knew when he forgave his jailer. There is no future without forgiveness. The future C.P. and I chose, just like the future Mandela chose for his country, meant that our hate had to die. Hate is a terrible thing. But when all you know is hate, you don’t know who you are without it. 

“People must learn to hate,” Mandela said, “and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” C.P. showed me that people can learn to love. We really can be born again, but it means leaving the life we’ve known behind."