Summary

Abrams begins this chapter by claiming that “people all over the world wanted to know how they could possibly live with joy in a world so filled with sorrow and suffering” (115). It was a question frequently sent to Abrams by those anticipating the profound dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. The Archbishop offers a straightforward and thoughtful answer, “you show your humanity” (115), before delving further into his beliefs.

Archbishop Tutu uses well-known international crises such as 9/11, the outbreak of Ebola, and tsunamis that regularly ravage poor, coastline communities to ultimately conclude that catastrophic events typically earn worldwide support and concern. He offers that countries that hated America could have boasted in the aftermath of 9/11, but instead, “there were very, very, very few people gloating” and “people were deeply, deeply distressed” (117). He marvels at “just how compassionate...