ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
December 27, 2021
On Mondays, I usually offer a prayer for the week, but yesterday one of the great witnesses to the power of transformative love, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, died. While some folks have a hero in the sports world or maybe from the big screen, Desmond Tutu has served as one of my heroes. He was unwavering in his opposition to Apartheid in South Africa. As some of you have heard, I met him at our Denomination’s General Assembly in 1993. The event was in St. Louis during a time of horrible flooding. While doing sandbagging in a neighborhood, Demond Tutu came out to meet some of us. Though he was actually shorter than I am (that says something), he towered over all of us. A few of my favorite quotes are:
-Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.
-My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.
-Without forgiveness, there is no future. Forgiveness is not nebulous, impractical and idealistic. It’s thoroughly realistic.
-If we are to say that religion cannot be concerned with politics then we are really saying that there is a substantial part of human life in which God’s writ does not run. If it is not God’s, then whose is it? Who is in charge if not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Holy One of the Universe, we express gratitude for all those whose life-witness has pointed others to you – to your love, kindness and justice. Amen.
