Re: Archbishop Desmond Tutu ( rip)
When he was a newly ordained vicar, my friend often struggled with his own image and his calling. He was a long haired, tattooed, rocker in his early 40s who often had to point out he really was a vicar (Something I can certainly relate to!)
He’d been asked to take his camera and chronicle Desmond Tutu’s visit to a number of parishes in Yorkshire. Late in the day, after taking loads of pictures of a very smiley Revd Tutu shaking hands and laughing with all the great and good of churches across the county my friend plucked up the courage and asked if he could have a picture with the bishop himself. Revd Tutu immediately answered with ‘of course Father, come on over here.’ He threw his arm around my mates shoulder and made sure he had the perfect photo before thanking him for all the work he had done through the day and all the work he would do in his ministry.
In that moment all my mates hang ups were gone. The holiest and most lovely man he had ever met had called him ‘Father’.