Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC

I just hadn't expected an Archbishop of the Anglican Church, an eminent theologian, and a Nobel laureate to begin an address (in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, yet) with a knock-knock joke. But that's just what this remarkable, magnetic man did.

Tutu:Knock, Knock.

CEEP delegates:Who's there?

Tutu:Archangel Gabriel.

CEEP delegates:Archangel Gabriel who?

Tutu:Archangel Gabriel knocking on the Virgin Mary's front door. Now what if, instead of saying, "Be it done to me according to thy will," Mary had said, "You want me to what? You know what folks think about girls that do that. You better check next door!"

This paradoxical beginning emphasized what Tutu calls the paradox of our faith, this miraculous conjunction of the divine and the human, the absolute necessity of human agents in carrying out God's enterprise. Tutu's message was "God has no one but you to be His partners."

He thanked Consortium churches that had been partners in financing the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and the many others that support the Archbishop Tutu Peace Center. He spoke of the ways America's civil rights movement and our commitment to freedom of speech have inspired Africa.

And then, in the most loving manner imaginable, he got down to brass tacks. Spreading his arms wide as if to embrace not just the ballroom and Midtown, but all of America, he said, "But we are surprised to find you so compliant. I never thought I would see the day when your government would use, as it does daily about Guantanamo and other prisons, the same arguments that we heard from the apartheid government of South Africa. As a member of your church and your family, I ask you: Why is there no outrage at such violent abuse of human rights?"

He ended by challenging us to "communicate this extraordinary gospel": to say to the powerful that we must export our caring, our compassion, and our generosity, not our guns and "arrogant unilateralism." God, he assured us, believes that we can do this. "God is saying to you, 'Please help me to turn all kinds of wildernesses into glorious gardens. If you fail, I have failed. I have no one but you.'"

Send items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads."
The deadline is the first Thursday of the preceeding month.