Made For Goodness

Made for Goodness

Desmond Tutu & Mpho Tutu

In preparation for the Fall voyage with this man, I thought it only appropriate that I read his latest book. This way I can be geared up to ask him why he doesn’t support condoms in a country that has one of the highest rates of HIV than anywhere in the world (this, I’m quite confident, will probably be one of the first things out of my mouth to him, regardless of how I realize it might not be the best ice-breaker…)

It’s a good book, don’t get me wrong…just a bit too Christian focused for my tastes. It’s a very positive portrayal of the true nature of humans: goodness. And, for a man who was the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee after South Africa’s apartheid, this is quite a profound conviction that he has. I can’t say that I disagree with him, I just have not witnessed near the amount of evil he has, hence my opinion comes from quite a safer place…

Ubuntu recognizes the interconnectedness of life. My humanity, we say, is bound up with your humanity. One consequence of ubuntu is that we recognize that we all need to live our lives in ways that ensure that others may live well. Our flourishing should enhance the lives of others, not detract from them.  P. 47

What does it mean to be at home in our own lives? Ideally, our physical homes are the places where we shed all striving and pretense. They are the places where no artifice is required in our self-presentation. Being at home in our own lives is a kindred experience. When we are at home in our lives, thought and action are all of a piece.  P. 53

I often say that God would rather we go freely to hell than that we be compelled to enter heaven. P. 67

Life is more than breath and a heartbeat; meaning and purpose are the life of life. P. 75

We help people to construct a life that they can inhabit from the mosaic tiles of their experience. P. 75

In the Bible, depravity does not enter creation in a tidal wave of wrongness. It comes in as a slow, silent leak, drip by quiet drip, until the earth is flooded. P. 89

The practices of goodness—noticing, savoring, thinking, enjoying, and being thankful—are not hard disciplines to learn. But they are disciplines, and they take practice. P. 92

Sometimes things are not right of wrong; they just are! P. 149

We can choose goodness no matter the circumstances. We can always ask, “What is the answer my best self would give? What is the action my best self would take?” p. 190