ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, 59, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his leadership in the struggle to end his country's system of apartheid.

When I was young, I thought of God as a grandfatherly figure, which made God very accessible. Now, inside me is an almost imageless conception, a dark light, or a light darkness. I find God is caring and compassionate, that God has deep feelings about us. And God is always available. You know the wonderful story of Elijah, where the prophets of Baal call to Baal, but Baal doesn't answer when they call. And Elijah says, "Maybe your God is deaf. Call loudly. He is asleep, or he is on a journey, or he has gone to the john."

I am one who has a faith that is reasonably stable. There have been moments. When I saw the awful things that police did to students at the university at Fort Hare, nearly 20 years ago, I broke down in a Eucharist service. I am not a pacifist, like Martin Luther King* or Mahatma Gandhi. I couldn't stand by and see someone throw children into a gas chamber. How could God allow that? How could He make obviously evil people succeed against children?

Ultimately, all you can say is that God does not occupy an Olympian fastness, remote from us. He has this deep, deep solidarity with us. God became a human being, a baby. God was hungry. God was tired. God suffered and died. God is there with us. There is a beautiful story about a Jew in a concentration camp, who was made to clean out toilets. His Nazi guard taunted him, "Where is your God now?" The Jew quietly replied, "He is right here with me, in the muck."

(copyright 1990 Time-Life Inc.)

*-THERE IS AN ENLIGHTENING PERSPECTIVE ON THE REVERED AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER (OVER TWO PAGES) THAT BEGINS IF YOU TAKE YOUR NEXT FOOTSTEP HERE.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page