Nobel Peace Prize–winner Desmond Tutu, who lived through South African apartheid and helped to clean up its criminal consequences by chairing the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, could write a grocery list and people would get something out of it. With his daughter Mpho, an Episcopal priest in Washington, D.C., the retired Anglican archbishop writes a relatively personal book about his fundamental, faith-based beliefs about human nature: people are basically good because they are made in God’s image. He maintains this in the face of the horrific events he has witnessed in his country and elsewhere, and he bases his belief in part on simple experiences throughout his life that have involved family and, significantly, his failures. Tutu’s humility is striking; he is comfortable in his own skin despite being raised in a culture that officially deemed his skin color second-class. This book is not nearly as dramatic or compelling as No Future Without Forgiveness, based on his work with the Reconciliation Commission; on the other hand, it is heartening to know, or remember, that faith can be learned, reinforced, and expressed as much around the dinner table as in the public square. (Mar.)
Desmond Tutu, Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, as well as chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, hardly needs an introduction. His latest book was cowritten with his daughter, an Episcopal priest as well as executive director of the Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage. The book is founded on the broad notion that we are created with the freedom to choose good or evil but also incline fundamentally to the good. Abstract theology or spirituality has never been Archbishop Tutu's way; accordingly, this book flows effortlessly through narratives that illustrate Tutu's unquenchable hope. VERDICT A crucially important book from the Nobel Peace Prize winner; a witness to our tumultuous times.
As the authors so clearly and beautifully say in this book, ‘anyone can choose to cultivate compassion.’ Thank you Archbishop Tutu for helping us all come back home to our true nature, which is inherently good and whole, and touch the peace that is always there for us.” — Thich Nhat Hanh, author of The Art of Power and Savor
“Desmond Tutu has walked the talk all his adult life. We can all be grateful that, together with his daughter Mpho, he has now shared his secrets for why he has so much hope and joy.” — Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland
“With disarming narrative skill,...Tutu and his daughter...tell true stories in which both brutality and hopefulness turn out to be as intimate as they are global. If you are still open to being convinced that goodness changes everything, then this book is for you.” — Barbara Brown Taylor, author of An Altar in the World
“I doubt there is anyone on this Earth with a deeper sense of God’s presence and goodness than Archbishop Tutu. If you are thirsty for spiritual drink, come to the water of this beautiful book.” — Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization and The Gifts of the Jews
“Even with the incredible trauma and cruelty he endured in South Africa, Archbishop Tutu still radiates love and happiness. This book is a great gift to the world and will help all of us celebrate our goodness and oneness.” — Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group
“Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu have seen more evil than most of us can begin to imagine. . . . That is why their book is shocking: How can they say that all people ‘are fundamentally good’? . . . It is a perfect book for Easter.” — The Christian Century
“A crucially important book from the Nobel Peace Prize winner; a witness to our tumultuous times.” — Library Journal
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the author of Made for Goodness - written with his daughter Mpho Tutu, also a priest in the Anglican communion - … [a] reflection on faith, forgiveness and reconciliation.” — NPR.org
“By giving the audience glimpses into his prayer life and other spiritual disciplines,…Tutu offer[s] a series of poignant reflections that speak about [his] lifelong quests to choose righteousness in a world gone awry.” — Sojourners
As the authors so clearly and beautifully say in this book, ‘anyone can choose to cultivate compassion.’ Thank you Archbishop Tutu for helping us all come back home to our true nature, which is inherently good and whole, and touch the peace that is always there for us.
I doubt there is anyone on this Earth with a deeper sense of God’s presence and goodness than Archbishop Tutu. If you are thirsty for spiritual drink, come to the water of this beautiful book.
With disarming narrative skill,...Tutu and his daughter...tell true stories in which both brutality and hopefulness turn out to be as intimate as they are global. If you are still open to being convinced that goodness changes everything, then this book is for you.
By giving the audience glimpses into his prayer life and other spiritual disciplines,…Tutu offer[s] a series of poignant reflections that speak about [his] lifelong quests to choose righteousness in a world gone awry.
Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu have seen more evil than most of us can begin to imagine. . . . That is why their book is shocking: How can they say that all people ‘are fundamentally good’? . . . It is a perfect book for Easter.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the author of Made for Goodness - written with his daughter Mpho Tutu, also a priest in the Anglican communion - … [a] reflection on faith, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Desmond Tutu has walked the talk all his adult life. We can all be grateful that, together with his daughter Mpho, he has now shared his secrets for why he has so much hope and joy.
Even with the incredible trauma and cruelty he endured in South Africa, Archbishop Tutu still radiates love and happiness. This book is a great gift to the world and will help all of us celebrate our goodness and oneness.
"Even with the incredible trauma and cruelty he endured in South Africa, Archbishop Tutu still radiates love and happiness. This book is a great gift to the world and will help all of us celebrate our goodness and oneness."
