December 5

Christina Rosetti, Phillis Wheatley, and Nelson Mandela

Author

David Barnhart
December 05, 2025

Today is the birthday, in 1830, of Christina Rosetti, English poet and author of “In the Bleak Midwinter” and “Love Came Down at Christmas.” More than half of her poetry is on theological themes. 

Today marks the death, in 1784, of Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American poet. She was enslaved as a child in Africa, brought to Boston, and eventually secured funding to publish her first book in London. Though her life was brief and filled with bigotry and hardship, she left an important literary legacy.

Today also marks the death, in 2013, of Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and the first president of South Africa. He spent 27 years in prison for “treason” before being released and winning the presidency. 

Reflection: 

In her poem “On Imagination,” Phillis Wheatley wrote:

   Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring God,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.

In her poem “A Better Resurrection,” Christina Rosetti wrote: 

“My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perish'd thing;
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him, my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.” 

Nelson Mandela wrote: 

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Prayer: Jesus, our passion for justice is weak and temperamental. Teach us to root our quest for justice in love. Amen.