Desmond Tutu - An African Prayer Book

An African Canticle
Traditional African

Today Is God
Pygmy

Praise from Every Nation
Revelation 7:912

How Great Thou Art
Saint Augustine

Love Ever Burning
Saint Augustine

Great Spirit!
Rozwi, South Africa

Great Shield
Xhosa, South Africa

Great Is Our Happiness
Zulu, South Africa

I Have No Words to Thank You
Kikuyu, Kenya

Seven Archangels
Coptic Orthodox

Hymn to the Blessed Virgin
Ethiopian Orthodox

Pharaoh's Hymn to the Sun
Ikhnaton, 14th Century B.C.

Chords of Praise
Baluba, Zaire

Trying to Count the Waves
Saint Athanasius

When God Created All Things
Dinka, Sudan

A Fisherman's Song of Praise
Ghana

A Divine Invocation
Saint Augustine

The Source of Being Is Above
Zulu, South Africa

The Great Amen
Zulu, South Africa

Morning Praise
Saint Macarius

Silence Alive
Harry Alfred Wiggett

The Right Hand of God
The Caribbean Conference of Churches

Amen and Alleluia
Saint Augustine

A LITANY OF CONFESSION
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT GEORGE, CAPE TOWN

An Act of Reconciliation and Sharing of the Peace
South Africa, National Service of Thanksgiving,
May 8, 1994

O Jesus, My Feet Are Dirty
Origen

A Balm in Gilead
African-American Spiritual

You Have Helped My Life to Grow Like a Tree
Nigeria

God Has Turned His Back on Us
Dinka, Sudan

May Anger and Fear Turn to Love
Margaret Nash

Confession of Alexandria
All Africa Conference of Churches

Thankfulness for Hopes Fulfilled
Crossroads, a Squatter Community Near
Cape Town

A Litany of Rejoicing
Cape Town, South Africa

Creator of Our Land
Ashanti, Ghana

My Joys Mount As Do the Birds
Ghana

Thank You Very Much!
Samburu, Kenya

Our Loving Eternal Parent
South Africa, National Service of Thanksgiving,
May 1994

Our Churches Are Like Big Families
West Africa

Mogopa
A Mogopa Elder

All Are Kings and Prophets
Saint Macarius

You Have Our Faith With Our Bodies
Masai, Tanzania

For the Wonder of Your Love
Inspired by Ephesians 13-18

Lift Every Voice
African-American Anthem

One Family
Bantu

The Motor Under Me Is Running Hot
Ghana

God Bless Africa
Trevor Huddleston

Make Us Holy
Institute for Spirituality, CPSA

Victory Is Ours
Desmond Tutu

Deliver Me
Bread for Tomorrow, Kenya

Nothing Between Us and the Love of God
Romans 8:31-39

The Angels Will Deliver Us
Origen

Christ Enough
John B. Gardener

Go Down, Moses
African-American Spiritual

Take My Hand, Precious Lord
Thomas A. Dorsey

Litany
Desmond Tutu

May God Agree With Us
Samburu, Kenya

Make Us Instruments of Your Faith
Masai, Tanzania

I Have No Other Helper Than You
Ghana

Grant Me to Walk All Roads
Samburu, Kenya

Be for Us a Moon of Joy
Mensa, Ethiopia

The Privilege Is Ours to Share in the Loving
Church of the Province of the West Indies

We Are Your Children
An Anglican Prayer Book 1989

Prayer of a Dying Man
Dinka, Sudan

A Prayer for Africa
Ghana

I Abandon Myself to You
Charles de Foucauld

Deliver Us from Fear of the Unknown
Akanu Ibaim, Nigeria

We Kneel Before Thee
Zaire

Your Holy Spirit Blows Over This Earth
Ghana

The Rainbow of Thy Peace
Leopold Sedar Senghor

Be Not Afraid
Isaiah 43:1-2

I Shall Not Forget You
Isaiah 49:14-16

Answer of a Starving Child Who Is Jesus Christ?
An African Call for Life

A South African Reply
An African Call for Life

A Woman's Answer
An African Call for Life

Reflections on Wholeness
An African Call for Life

You Have Prepared in Peace the Path
Galla, Ethiopia

O Sun, As You Rise in the East
Abaluyia, Kenya

Our Heart Is Restless
Saint Augustine

A Morning Prayer
Boran, Kenya

An Evening Prayer
Boran, Kenya

Cover Me with the Night
Ghana

The Sun Has Disappeared
Ghana

Night Silence
Harry Alfred Wiggett

The Silent Self
Harry Alfred Wiggett

Seed Silence
Harry Alfred Wiggett

For the Living Dead
Mende, Sierra Leone

For a Disobedient Son
Mende, Sierra Leone

For a Repentant Son
Mende, Sierra Leone

A Fisherman's Prayer
Lobi, Cote d'Ivoire

God Free You
Samburu, Kenya

A Blessing
Samburu, Kenya

Blessing a New House
Nyola, Kenya

A Fire Blessing
Masai, Tanzania

Light a Holy Fire
Masai, Tanzania

The Time of Harvest Is Over
Betammaribe (Somba), Dahomey (Benin)

You Are Above, I Am Below
Boran, Kenya

Let Us Behave Gently
Yoruba, Nigeria

Turn Your Ear to Hear Me
Nandi, Kenya

Wisdom
Traditional African

Late Have I Loved Thee
Saint Augustine

Grant Me to Know Thee
Saint Augustine

Now I Love Thee Alone
Saint Augustine

This Only Do I Ask
Saint Augustine

Adam was having the time of his life in the Garden of Eden. He enjoyed his work as the primal gardener. The animals loved him and lived in an idyllic, undisturbed harmony. Everything was lovely in the garden. No, not quite. God looked on his human creature and was concerned, for his life was not all unalloyed bliss. God said, It is not good for man to be alone. And so God asked Adam to choose a mate for himself from among the animals which paraded before him in procession. God would ask his human friend: What about this one? Adam would reply: Not on your life! No, thank you! And so God decided to put Adam to sleep and produced from his rib that delectable creature, Eve; and when Adam awoke he exclaimed: Wow! This is just what the doctor ordered.

This beautiful story tells a fundamental truth about usthat we are made to live in a delicate network of interdependence with one another, with God and with the rest of God's creation. We say in our African idiom: A person is a person through other persons. A solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. A totally self-sufficient human being is ultimately subhuman. We are made for complementarity. I have gifts that you do not; and you have gifts that I do not. Voil! So we need each other to become fully human.

This is also true of the different nations: that one people has particular gifts, a distinct world view, a cultural ethos, which is not necessarily better or superior to those of other people. It is just different and needs to be balanced by those of other peoples. So we find, for instance, that Africans have a strong sense of community, of belonging, whereas Occidentals have in contrast a strong sense of the individual person. These attributes, in isolation and pushed to extremes, have weaknesses. For instance, a strong herd instinct can smother individual initiative so that the person is often sacrificed for the collective, whereas a too highly developed individualism can lead to a debilitating sense of isolation so that you can be lonely and lost in a crowd.