Desmond Tutu

I just shook Desmond Tutu's hand!!

One of my colleagues here at the United Nations who knows when all the VIP's are coming and going, tipped me off (per my long ago request) and I darted to the lounge where I was told Archbishop Tutu was sitting.

He was all alone on a white couch, dressed in black with the purple shirt underneath -- the Anglican dress. He had his head resting on his hand, looking world-weary. He saw me from afar off and watched me approach him. It was daunting but I was driven by adoration!

I began by saying, "Sir... may I shake your hand?" And he extended it. Overcome. The hand of a man who has worked so hard for peace and understanding. A hand that has been in the trenches of human injustices and lifted so many to find peace and reconciliation in their lives.

I rambled on a bit about waiting for him to visit the UN again so that I may meet him -- then said how much I admired the work he's done for our world... then got around to saying that because I was so grateful and inspired by him I named my son Desmond. He raised his brows ever so slightly. I wanted to tell him more about the reasons why but he stopped me mid-sentence and asked me if I lived in NYC (I suppose one can only take so much passionate outpourings from strangers!) I said yes but that I was originally from Utah. I hoped to get a response from that but didn't. He then said to say hello to his namesake for him. I warmed joyfully to this and said thank you. He pressed his hands together, smiled and bowed to me and I with my heart full returned the gesture and then left, nearly in tears.

What an honor. A blessed man. I wish now I would have sat down on the couch next to him and talked with him about what is concerning him these days.

The first time I heard Desmond Tutu was during our Philadelphia days. I was at home listening to NPR (I'm a junkie for good reason!) and heard the following interview with Alex Chadwick. I cried, I laughed, I wrestled with his ideas -- there was something about him and what he was saying that made him unforgettable to me. Here is a link to that interview: Morning Edition, October 7, 1999


Nobel Site on: Desmond Mpilo Tutu

A good synopsis of his work and views: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu

The Desmond Tutu Peace Center -- a non-profit group for nurturing visionary leadership


A perfect time to share one of my favorites passages from his book, "No Future without Forgiveness" (1999)

We are bound together in what the Bible calls "the bundle of life." Our humanity is caught up in that of all others. We are human because we belong. We are made for community, for togetherness, for family, to exist in a delicate network of interdependence. Truly, "it is not good for man to be alone," for no one can be
human alone.

I think the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ exemplifies this thought so beautifully in the principles it teaches about our family relationships being ETERNAL. Archbishop Tutu is driven by the Spirit of God, to be sure. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. To have an individual like him in our world leading us all to love and forgive one another. In my mind there are two very great men in our world, who lead us so lovingly: the Prophet Gordon B. Hinkley and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I wonder if they have met each other? What did they talk about? I suppose it would likely be about us, Gods will for us.

Many times in the Scriptures the prophets talk about how important we should be to one another:

1 Peter 8:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous

Mosiah 2:17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the
service of your God.

Individuals who give and believe so much really influence me and direct me toward more openness with humanity. I want it to be said of me that I loved humans, that I was good on humanity. The more I experience things the more I feel that a part of the meaning of life is not what happens to us, but what happens between us.

BLESS ALL OF YOU!