Number Two to Tutu

In The Return of the King (the third part of the movie The Lord of the Rings) Frodo and Sam are on their way to Mount Doom when Frodo collapses and is unable to continue. Sam then starts to carry him and says about the Ring:

I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.

Sam is the kind of leader that understands that it takes a team to succeed and that every member of the team is equally important. He has felt the power of the Ring and realised that it is not for him to be the Ring-bearer.

When I read a book about Desmond Tutu, a book that I bought long time ago, I thought of this movie and especially this quote. And it is not farfetched. Tolkien was born in South Africa and was baptised in the Anglican Cathedral of Bloemfontein, a church we often visited during our years in Bloemfontein.

Back to the book. The title is Number Two to Tutu. A memoir. It is written by Michael Nuttall who was Dean of the province (which means Tutus deputy when Tutu was the Archbishop of the Church of the Province in Southern Africa – CPSA – today known as The Anglican Church of Southern Africa). The book – which I am busy reading now – tells the story about two church leaders who became close friends. Both of them had been candidates when an Archbishop were elected in 1981. None of them were elected. Again in 1986 they were candidates and it stood between the two of them. Nuttall writes openly about his feelings after the election:

My prayer beforehand had been for ‘a holy indifference’ regarding the outcome of the election. Yet there came upon me immediately afterwards feelings of rejection that took me greatly by surprise. I too had been caught up in the power pressures and possibilities of the moment. The sense of rejection was a salutary experience, revealing a vulnerable humanity beneath the veneer of acceptance.

I find it refreshing that he admits this. And in the chapters that follow it is no doubt that he means it. He understands and appreciates that Tutu was the person for the task.

I wanted to write about Michael Nuttall, because he will preach at the funeral of Tutu. It takes place in St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town at 10 am (SAST) on Saturday January 1, 2022. The service will be held as an Anglican Requiem Mass, something that Desmond Tutu wanted. The Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town writes about Nuttall and Tutu:

… they formed an exceptionally close relationship, which in the 1980s modelled how a white leader could work for and closely with a black leader.

I hope the service will be streamed and also possible to watch afterwards.

Today I attended an inter-denominational and interfaith memorial service. It was live streamed on the Facebook page of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). Unfortunately, there were some technical challenges, so the streaming did not start directly. There is however a possibility to listen to most of the service via this link.

The World Council of Churches writes about this in a press release with the heading:

Church leader calls on South Africa to strive for Desmond Tutu's ideals

One ideal that Tutu definetely had was the importance of teamwork. The book about Nuttall and Tutu so far describes two leaders who understands that they need one another and others. One final example is from a newspaper interview in April 2001 when Tutu was asked about his weaknesses, his frailties. He replied:

I have a very strong weakness for being liked. I want to be popular. I love to be loved. One has enjoyed the limelight. I am guilty of the sin of pride. Sometimes I find it very difficult to be humble – that is why it is so good to have Leah. She pulls me down a peg or two. To her I’m not an archbishop with a Noble Prize; I’m just a not-very-good husband who likes gardens but won’t do any gardening.