“We are made for goodness. We are made for love...We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders...all are welcome.” Desmond Tutu
We often wonder, what is our purpose? What are we, as individuals and as a human species, meant to accomplish? According to the wisdom of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the answer is simple yet profoundly profound.
We are made for goodness, for love, for all the beautiful things that fill our world with joy, and light, and colour. This doesn't merely mean appreciating the beauty that exists around us, it also means adding to it. We are not just bystanders in life, we are participants. We are here to engage with the world, to impact it, to make it better. And how do we do that? Through goodness, love, kindness, compassion, generosity.
Goodness is not about being perfect, it's about trying your best to do the right thing, to treat others with kindness and respect, to lend a hand when you can, to stand up against injustice. Goodness is the active engagement in making the world a better place, in big ways and in small.
And love? Love is not just an emotion, it's a way of living. It's in how you treat the people around you, how you respond to the world around you. Love means not just loving the people who are easy to love, but also those who are difficult to love. It means love without discrimination, without boundary.
Desmond Tutu is emphatic when he says: "We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders". No one is meant to feel unwelcome, unaccepted, unwanted. Every individual, every community, every culture and nation, belongs. Every person has the right to feel accepted, loved and valued, and it is our responsibility to ensure this.
This world, in all its beautiful, messy, complex glory, is home to all of us. We are all parts of the same human family, the same ecosystem. In Desmond Tutu's wise words, 'all are welcome'.
We have a purpose. We have a mission. It's simple yet complex, easy yet difficult, joyful yet heart-rending. We are here to love, to do good, to celebrate beauty, to spread welcome. This is what we are made for.
So, as we go through our daily lives, let's keep these words close to our hearts. Let's make love our guiding principle, goodness our mission. Let's make sure everyone knows they're welcome, that they belong. That's what we are made for. That's our purpose. And in fulfilling it, we'll create a world that is more loving, more accepting, more beautiful. Just as we are made to do.
