Author(s): Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Biography / Memoir

As Archbishop of Cape Town at the height of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, Desmond Tutu saw many shocking and violent incidents. Later, as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as a leading peace negotiator in many troubled parts of the world, he heard many appalling stories of man's inhumanity to man. Yet he still has a firm conviction that we are 'made by goodness for goodness'. Another way of putting this is: the essential truth about all of us is that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Tutu explains that, though we sometimes act out of depravity and despair, we do know in our heart of hearts that we are not as we were meant to be, and were created to be so much more. The truth of human goodness can get hidden under the fear that we cannot live up to its demands, or it can get buried under faults or failures, or it can just get forgotten. In this thoughtful and important book, the Archbishop (with his daughter, Mpho Tutu) shows how we can find our way back to goodness by changing our attitudes, by practising forgiveness, and by prayer. Then we will begin to see the goodness and beauty of others...If our view changes, this in turn makes all the difference to the way we act. And how we act towards each other affects not only ourselves but everything in our world - for the better.