A Great Soul was Among Us

We are meant to complement each other. All kinds of things go horribly wrong when we break that fundamental law of our being. Not even the most powerful nation can be completely self-sufficient.

~Desmond Tutu

By an odd coincidence, if there are such, I had just read the selection of his statements assembled by his loving daughter Naomi when the news reached me that Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop of Johannesburg and fierce enemy of apartheid, passed at the age of 90.  Reading the book with great pleasure and the warmth of the inspired presence of a true Mahatma (‘great soul’) I remembered a vivid photo of his visit to UC, Berkeley, when we had a great Chancellor, Michael Heyman who had supported my efforts to co-found the Peace and Conflict Studies Program there.  The Chancellor had gone to welcome him personally at the helicopter that had brought the famous Nobel Prize-winner to our campus, and they were holding hands, ducking heads together, scampering out from under the powerful downdraft of the helicopter, laughing like a pair of kids.  It brought tears to my eyes.

This was the man who said, “Apartheid partakes of the centrifugal nature of sin for it is in fact the essence of sin to separate.”  And he made the proud declaration that should uphold the courage of all nonviolent activists: “We will say, we used methods that can stand the harsh scrutiny of history.”

Archbishop, may you rest in peace, and may we all draw inspiration and courage from your amazing life.