A few years ago I used to read a chapter a night to my son from the book The Most Evil People in History. Yes, I know he will probably need therapy after growing up with a dad like me. (Don’t worry his mom would sneak into his room after I left and read him the Bible). What was striking to me was the way these horrible historical figures would come into power–just by chance. There was usually some insignificant oversight which occurred that led to the tyrant coming into power.

This made me realize that the seemingly insignificant events in our lives might actually be pregnant with possibilities. The story of how Desmond Tutu became the archbishop of South Africa proves this point. It was the law in the Apartheid South African Government that when black people were walking down the sidewalk they must move off the sidewalk into the street if a white person was coming in their direction. One day when Desmond Tutu was accompanying his mother downtown, a white man approached them. Before his mother could move herself and her son off the sidewalk, the man stepped off the sidewalk into the street and honored them with the tip of his hat. Desmond was shocked, asking his mother, “Why did the white man do that?” She replied, “Because he is a man of God and an Anglican Priest.” It was at that moment that Desmond Tutu decided that he wanted to be both, a man of God and an Anglican Priest. Isn’t it interesting how that seemingly insignificant Christian gesture led to the calling of a man who God used to help bring an end to Apartheid in South Africa.

 William Lewis