Parental Love

Archbishop Tutu frequently refers to humankind's natural parental instincts to accurately describe joy. "Think of a mother who is going to give birth," he directs the reader, "after the painful labor, once the baby is out, you can't measure the mother's joy" (32). Though humans have a natural inclination to avoid pain, "nothing beautiful in the end comes without a measure of some pain, some frustration, some suffering" (45). The same way a mother turns her pain and suffering into a beautiful gift, the Archbishop believes each individual has the ability to turn their suffering into something beautiful. Abrams briefly weighs in on the concept as well, pondering on the idea that "we try so hard, with our natural paternal instinct, to save our children from pain and suffering, but when we do, we rob them of their ability to grow and learn from adversity" (146). While referencing paternal...