More from "A Christian theology of Ubuntu" by Michael Battle.
For Tutu, persons must always be seen as ends in themselves, and they must discover who they are through others. For example, a person does not know she is beautiful unless there is another person who can make beauty intelligible to her. In short, the telos (or purpose) of persons must always remain a mystery, otherwise, constricting definitions of persons, such as the racial classifications of apartheid, inevitably lead to dehumanizing forces. These forces often ran rampant and unchecked in the apartheid era.
When the purpose of a person is a mystery, there is always the possibility for change and new life. If a person's whole being can be like a stamp, it is static and it will not change. It is then that it can become so easy to put people into boxes. But that is not what people are. We are a mystery. Sometimes even to ourselves - as we are sometimes finding ourselves amazed when we are not acting as we though we might act. Repentance is one way in which we are free to live outside the box. Forgiveness gives us a doorway into the mystery of life that God places before all of us. Without forgiveness, we easily lock ourselves and others into roles that only continue to keep things as they are.
Connection: It doesn't take much for us to be brutal people. The moment we have drawn a line and will not cross it or let anyone come over to our side, we suffer the loss of the life that comes within the power of the Holy Spirit.
Come, O Spirit of Life. Come and push us out of our ways and into the way of others. Let those meeting times bring a breath of fresh air to all we see and do. Amen.
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