Desmond Tutu - name drop alert!

[I P Knightley]

I was extremely lucky through work to be invited by the British Council to a lecture given this morning by Desmond Tutu.

 

It was exceptional. He is such a charismatic, warm, humble, humorous, knowledgeable, sharp and spell-binding man; he put me through all the emotions in the space of about an hour and a half. I wasn't the only one to wipe a tear from my eye as he spoke about all the things he's been through and the challenges that still face us.

 

I've attached a link to the transcript which probably doesn't come across as well in print as it did in delivery. There were pauses when the room, with 600 people in it, was completely, absolutely silent - enthralled. I doubt that many of them were particularly religious and it wasn't until afterwards that I sussed that I'd just been listening to a sermon.

 

The transcript on page 10 does no justice to the moment. He was asked to comment on the current state of the Anglican Church in Africa. No sooner had the chap asked the question than Des was laughing heartily with a really infectious laugh that only black Africans seem to be able to do. He enunciated slowly amid his own chuckles, "I am ARCH-BISH-OP EM-ER-IT-US" he then pointed at Rowan Williams who was sitting behind the bloke who'd asked the question and said, still laughing, "There is a sitting Archbishop at the back." To which the A of C slid down in his chair and pulled his jacket lapels up over his head.

 

If you bother to read through the transcript, I am the second participant noted. Not the mad looney woman who asked him to sing a hymn (must've been confusing him with Bono)!

 

http://www.britishcouncil.org/new/PageFiles/4784/Transcript190209.pdf

 

OK - that's me done with the peace & goodwill. Back to the Peronis and that non-PC joke thread.