On Wednesday evening, our shipboard community had the honor of welcoming Archbishop Desmond Tutu for a short, last-minute visit to the MV Explorer. Upon our return on Tuesday from a day of riding the train and sightseeing, we were overjoyed to find a handwritten note pinned to the communication board in Tymitz Square (on Deck 5, this is a centralized area of the ship...like a open foyer). It read that Archbishop Tutu would be making a special guest appearance and talk at 1700 hours on October 1st. Rumor has it that he was notified that this might be SAS’s last visit to South Africa for an unknown period due to the rising coat of fuel (it seems that SAS will be more likely to travel through the Suez Canal in the next few years). Anyway, Archbishop Tutu has actually sailed twice with SAS and often made a visit when the ship was in port. I have been crossing my fingers since we left Norfolk that we would have some special, surprise opportunity like this one. It has been a few voyages since someone like Tutu or Castro had made an appearance on one of the larger voyages.
The Archbishop arrived and, I’ve been told, first posed for a photograph with our Captain (at the Captain’s special request) and then proceeded to go immediately to say hello to some of his friends at the Purser’s Desk (this is our Crew’s desk in Tymitz Square). He then turned to our Executive Dean, Jack van der Water, and said “What’s next?” with a smile. He was escorted to the Union, where many of us had been waiting for nearly 2 hours. He was welcomed with a standing ovation by the audience and proceeded down one aisle where he was seated in the chair directly in front of me! He was just inches away during the time he was introduced by our Academic Dean, Len Schoppa. Wow!! See our photo site (www.heatherbill.shutterfly.com for the photos that Bill took).
There are a few individuals in this world that I find truly larger-than-life and Archbishop Tutu is certainly one of them. These are also folks that I never expect to meet in my lifetime - what an honor and dream to actually see Desmond Tutu in person. He glowed with compassion and warmth and I felt I was truly in the presence of great kindness and strength.
The Archbishop rose after being introduced and spoke to us for about 45 minutes – he was full of compassionate advice and spirited appreciation of his fellow human beings. I was struck on numerous occasions by his willingness and intent to focus on the positive nature of people. Here is a man who suffered atrocious indignities in his homeland for decades, who has witnessed and sorted through these crimes of humanity with great detail and thoughtfulness and care and yet he began his speech to our room full of privileged Americans by reminding us how special we are to one another and the world community.
If I could explain to you how I am inspired to witness God, it is through people like Desmond Tutu. He cajoled us to consider how special we are as human beings, insisting that we think of one another as manifestations of God. He said “were we able to see one another with the right kind of eyes, we would be dazzled.” He spoke to us from his heart and his message was directed to each of our hearts. When asked, he stated that our country could do better to drop bread not bombs and to consider signing important things like the Kyoto Protocol. He also mentioned, when asked, that his greatest accomplishments were having a child and being part of the anti-Apartheid movement. Yet, in all of his commentary about the world, the US, and his own country he never boasted or laid blame. He gave credit where credit was due and softly asked us to consider other parts of the world when making decisions about our own life and families.
I’m telling you, I found this man as humble and compassionate as I imagine his Nobel Peace Prize colleagues and other spiritual leaders to be. Truly amazing. As many of you can already guess, I was moved to tears. In fact, at one point I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through the visit without having to excuse myself. As he walked past me and left the room, I was able to touch his shoulder and say thanks. The hour felt like seconds and I’m convinced time actually stood still. I was absolutely dazzled.
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