A GENTLE WHISPER
A Widow Bit – May 15, 2011
By Mary Koch

            On Friday I came as close as I’m probably ever going to come to attending a rock concert, all because I wanted to hear in person one of the world’s great spiritual leaders. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the man who helped break South Africa’s horrific system of apartheid, spoke in Tacoma at a youth-oriented event, “Be The Spark.” Tutu is recognized globally as an advocate for peace, justice and compassion.

            The event drew some 15,000 people to the Tacoma Dome, at least half of whom were kids.  The sponsors, the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, had given out 4,000 tickets through schools and youth organizations. There were also plenty of grandparent-age folks like me in the audience. Several of those sitting around me held their hands over their ears as a funk-rock band warmed up the crowd with high-pitched, electronic glissandos and a bass vibration that surely tested the dome’s earthquake-proof construction.

            The goal was to get kids enthused about community – about volunteering, participating and working together to make their community and world a better place. Each succeeding speaker and performing group, from the governor to a hip-hop star, from ballet to “step” athletics, stimulated the crowd to ascending peaks of excitement.

            All of it built up to the moment when 79-year-old Desmond Tutu would arrive on stage. The program had been going for over an hour when it was finally time. The crowd was vibrant with anticipation. A video introduction was played on two giant screens. Then, to thundering applause and shouts, the Rev. Tutu stepped onstage – a small black man with an enormous presence. His image was enlarged by what seemed a hundred times onto the screens behind him. But he didn’t need that.

            He had 15,000 people in the palm of his hand as he told Bible stories the way MY Sunday School teachers never told them; as he offered a simple theology – don’t  expect lightning-bolt miracles from God unless you’re willing to partner with God in making those miracles happen; and, as he described how God weeps when humankind is inhumane. You could have heard a pin drop.

            Tutu’s criticisms of human folly were sharp: for example, the billions we spend on instruments of death and destruction. Then he had us laughing as he imitated how God dances with glee when we humans manage to get something right by caring for each other. He ended his 30-minute talk with a soft thank you to those who have made God smile.

            I thought about the Old Testament story when Elijah, after a wind that shattered stones, an earthquake, and a fire, finally heard the voice of the Lord in a gentle whisper. Friday’s rock music and dance were exciting and inspiring. I enjoyed it. But I’d also like to believe those teens would have been just as captivated if Tutu had spoken without the hoopla. I’d like to think they would have responded to the simple truth and beauty in his message. I’m pretty sure they would have, because I know I would have.