CHURCHES COLUMN: Desmond Tutu's words were spoken from love and wisdom

Though diminutive in stature, he was a larger-than-life character; a Christian whose faith and courage shone through his actions and words.

Well aware that life could be hard and unfair, he was nevertheless a man of deep joy, known for his humour and wit; a bubbly personality who smiled and frequently danced to celebrate.

Most know him as an anti-apartheid activist stressing non-violent protest.

For this he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and later appointed the chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The end of apartheid, however, was not the end of his campaigning. He was a champion of LGBT rights and continued to speak his mind on many topics, from Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and Myanmar’s of the Rohingya, to the injustices of climate change.

He knew personal and national suffering and wrote these wonderful words: “We all experience sadness, we all come at times to despair and we all lose hope that the suffering in our lives and in the world will ever end.

“I want to share with you my faith and my understanding that this suffering can

be transformed and redeemed.

“There is no such thing as a totally hopeless case. Our God is an expert at dealing with chaos, with brokenness, with all the worst that we can imagine. God created order out of disorder, cosmos out of chaos, and God can do so always, can do so now, in our personal lives and in our lives as nations, globally. Indeed, God is transforming the world now – through us –because God loves us.

“In the end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us.

“And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t.”

This is what he believed, Christians believe, and I believe. What a message of hope for us all.