From the Pages of History

How often do you get a chance to sit at the feet of someone who made history? Someone who is actually part of a chapter in your history textbook? We're not hoity toity cultural snobs, but when we heard Desmond Tutu was coming to town, we bought our tickets to see him right away.

Desmond Tutu changed the face of Africa.

Our first visit to Africa was to Johannesburg, South Africa, a place torn by the injustices of Apartheid. We were given the privilege of staying in the homes of three families - one English, one Afrikaans, and one coloured. I couldn't tell you the names of the white families we stayed with, though they were kind and hospitable. But the Africas (yes, that was their name), made us feel like family in their home in a coloured township. I think we were the first whites to ever stay there, or at least it felt that way as people watched us walk down the street. We drove through the streets of Soweto and saw the fields where blacks were "necklaced" with burning tires. We saw the hospital not far away where great advances in organ transplants were taking place... for whites. Meanwhile, our host spent over a week in the sparse ward of an under-equipped hospital waiting for someone to see him about a kidney problem.

So, to sit and listen to Desmond Tutu, a man who worked to end Apartheid, whose work on the Truth and Reconciliation Council in newly integrated South Africa helped that country seek forgiveness above retribution, was indeed a privilege.

And beyond being a privilege, it was a pleasure. Despite all his honorary degrees, his Nobel Peace Prize, his endless list of accomplishments, Archbishop Tutu has a terrific sense of humor and an ability to connect with a crowd. I'll cherry pick a little to keep the pearls of wisdom I agree with and leave the rest, but on the whole the evening was enlightening, interesting and fun! The highlight, for me, was hearing him pray the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, first in English, then in an African tongue (I'm guessing was Xhosa because of the clicks), before he led us in a chorus of Amens.

The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

Forgiveness above retribution. Peace over war. Truth. Amnesty. Love for each other. Amen.