PRINCETON: Tutu daughter gives sermon at peace service

By Charley Falkenburg, Special to the Packet
The Princeton University Chapel was a melting pot of religions on Sunday as crowds of people of all different faiths united in the name of one shared goal: peace.
Christians, Muslims, Baptists, Sikhs, Hebrews and people of other faiths filled the chapel’s pews that morning for the Coalition for Peace Action’s (CFPA) 35th annual Interfaith Service for Peace. From rabbis to reverends, the service was co-led by eight worship leaders, each representing a slice of the world’s religious diversity.
"For me, this is a spiritual high-water mark because of such a wide range of faiths coming together," said the Rev. Robert Moore, the executive director of CFPA. "This is grand work in the great spiritual traditions in the world, which are all centered around peace."
Co-sponsored by 31 religious and civic groups, this year’s service featured a sermon from human rights activist Nontombi Naomi Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Ms. Tutu was no stranger to the pulpit; 20 years ago she came and preached a sermon of fire and brimstone. However, she returned on Nov. 9 as a divinity school student with a different message: prophesizing backwards instead of into the future.
"What if I was asked to prophesize backwards and consider the lessons we needed to learn from our experiences?" she asked the congregants.
The question caused her to recall growing up in South Africa as a black female dealing with oppression, inequalities and injustice. However, one day stood out to Ms. Tutu where justice prevailed: the day the people of South Africa voted for the first time.
"The day when there were lines of South Africans waiting to vote, looking like rivers of human beings seeking justice; that day when we saw a vision of what South Africa could be, what South Africa should be," she added. "For me, that day is the day I hold onto whenever I look at out other countries and see them so far removed from what they thought justice would be like."
Before she finished preaching, the room was silent as she asked everyone to imagine what prophets would say when they looked back at today’s society.
"I pray when generations look back to prophesize about us, it will be to say we were a generation of people who said we have heard our God calling for justice and righteousness and we are going to live our lives in a new way," said Ms. Tutu. "A people who didn’t say ‘peace’ when there was no peace, but instead worked for human rights so indeed justice would roll down."
Ms. Tutu’s sermon was followed with Jewish, Muslim and Sikh prayers for peace in addition to the Exchange of Peace where attendees stood up and shook hands with each other, bestowing well wishes and peace one another. Several people made sure to give a handshake to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, who attended the service that morning. For Rep. Holt, the service was an important community event.
"I always look forward to the annual Interfaith Service for Peace — it’s a reminder that through the centuries and across the religions people continue to hope and pray to work for peace," he saidt. "That it’s not naive or pointless, but a higher calling and duty."
As everyone filed out into the vestibule for refreshments, Alice Pakenham of Skillman noted how much she enjoyed the service.
"It was absolutely great to have people coming from all different faiths getting together," she said.
After the Interfaith Peace Service, CFPA hosted its 35th annual Conference "Seal the Deal on the Iran Nuclear Issue" at the Nassau Presbyterian Church.
"The idea is to support peaceful alternatives — the world has too much war already," said Rev. Moore.