Ackworth School welcomes Terry Waite
Andrew Ward describes a powerful talk by Terry Waite
Nearly 170 students and visitors packed Ackworth’s Meeting House and waited in anticipation of the arrival of our famous guest. Local Quakers and members of other denominations joined the Sixth Form to hear Terry Waite talk about his ‘Spiritual Journey’. We were anticipating that this high profile speaker, who had spent five years in captivity (four and a half in solitary confinement) would have something special to offer and we were not disappointed. Terry began by talking about his early career in Africa working as a negotiator on behalf of those imprisoned by the regime of Idi Amin and then moved on to his experiences in the Middle East which first thrust him into the limelight when he successfully negotiated the release of hostages in Iran.
Of course we all knew where we were being led, and, as he started to recount his experiences in Beirut and how he had been taken hostage, the atmosphere in the Meeting house became increasingly focused. As he told how he had been tortured and subjected to a mock execution, we all realised that this man’s testimony was moving us deeply, to a point where we could fully understand his cry ‘You can break my body, you can break my mind, but you will never have my soul’.
Terry started and finished with the same message; that it is understandable to be angry, but one should always try to leave bitterness behind. Coming from anyone else this might have seemed trite, but for a man of such physical, spiritual and intellectual stature, still limping as a result of having the soles of his feet beaten twenty years ago, it was a powerful message indeed and one which will, I’m sure, affect many of us for the rest of our lives.
