Peter Storey was once kidnapped with Desmond Tutu and they had their lives threatened and he described Desmond Tutu with “Nobody understands him unless they understand how deeply he was a man of prayer. I remember him saying, ‘I’m not afraid of these people, because the worst they can do is kill me. And I’m not afraid of death” and I am so impressed that he lived his live with so much authenticity that he truly didn’t fear death. He was a man that worked tirelessly for the rights of his people and even though he only wanted his people to be treated fairly and humanely, he was vilified by people who oppressed others. So much so that for a time, the narrative was that he was evil, a man who risked his life for the good of others and to secure equal rights, was branded as the devil by those who truly had evil designs.
Despite all of this and his small stature he worked to make such an amazing impact in the world. His daughter, Mpho, wrote a book with him on forgiveness that is a very powerful but difficult concept. You can find out more about the book here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18085474-the-book-of-forgiving?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Tn28RvwULz&rank=1 and it is discussed in the embedded podcast where one of the people I use for podcast inspiration, Blair Hodges, interviews her about the book. As we spend this week learning our truths and also trying to learn other peoples truths we can learn a lot from the Tutus and how we shouldn’t always believe the stories told about others and that we all have a need to forgive someone or something.
I hope that you will use the powerful example of Desmond Tutu and his ability to serve others as motivation to learn the truths of the people around you from their perspective and not from our often misguided preconceived notions.
