Terry Waite's life is a testament to the power and resilience of the human spirit. Long devoted to humanitarian concerns, inter-cultural relations, and conflict resolution, Waite garnered international recognition in the 1980s when he successfully negotiated the release of British hostages in Iran and Libya. Facing great danger and formidable adversaries, including Colonel Qadhafi and the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution, Waite's tough-mindedness, compassion and grace-under-fire prevailed.
On a fateful day in 1987, while negotiating for the release of Western hostages in Beirut on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Waite himself was taken hostage. He remained in captivity for 1,760 days, the first four years of which were in solitary confinement. His ordeal, recounted in his book, Taken on Trust, was a test of human endurance, a trial of the mind and body and, ultimately, a triumph of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.

 In his lecture, "The Power of the Human Spirit," Waite shares the insights he's gained from 30 years of international service and shows how hardship and stress can be a source of inner strength. Waite gives his audiences a sense of confidence in their ability to overcome adversity and create a life of purpose and fulfilment.
 

Leafing through the pages of history it is relatively easy to find examples of the persecuted. From the first martyr Stephen, and the early Christians thrown to the lions by the Romans to the Jews so cruelly treated in the Second World War, the intervening years and beyond are littered with people persecuted because of their beliefs.

There is a subtle difference though between being persecuted for one's beliefs and being persecuted for doing what God requires. A locally born seventeenth century man who failed to find satisfaction in the established church found disfavour with the authorities and was imprisoned eight times during his life for preaching in the open air and private homes. The man, George Fox, was the founder of The Society Of Friends (Quakers) and a case can be made that he was doing what God required. More recently, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey, can be cited as an example of someone imprisoned in the USA on contrived charges. There are many other examples, but our subject here exemplifies the essence of this Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount.

Terry Waite provides an excellent example of someone from very recent history that did what God required and was undoubtedly persecuted. Acting as envoy for the Archbishop of Canterbury and negotiating for the release of hostages in the war-torn Beirut, he was taken prisoner himself and suffered countless tribulations. Initially he was held in an underground room with a low ceiling that prevented him extending his six foot five inch frame.

Later and several times during his four year captivity, he was moved to different locations in the city. On one occasion that same large frame was dressed in women's clothes and made to lie in the back seat well of a car. On another, he was forced into an airtight fridge with thawing ice dripping all over him as he fought to breathe. Even more traumatic must have been the time when a loaded gun was placed to his head and he was told he was going to be killed.

He was kept in solitary confinement in darkened rooms with shutters hammered fast over windows; chained to walls so that he could not take even limited exercise; forced to sit next to a faulty heater which poured fumes into the room and exacerbated his asthma; required to don a blindfold whenever anyone entered his room to prevent him identifying his captors; threatened, cajoled and persecuted and for what? Simply because, as his captors often remarked "You are a good man" and he had been willing, perhaps reluctantly, to put his own life in jeopardy in order to negotiate the release of his fellow men.

Throughout all this, Terry maintained his dignity, resisting the temptation to resort to violence, even on one occasion foregoing the opportunity to secure and use the gun of one of his captors. Through ill health, mental anguish and physical trauma, he held on to his precious memories of his wife, family, colleagues and friends at home.He pleaded with his guards for some books and was eventually given a few; none more gratefully received than a prayer book. In a strange way achieved a peculiar "friendship" with the people holding him captive.

He had time to look at his life and put things into perspective. It is totally surprising therefore to find a quote in his book "Taken On Trust" expressing the fact that for much of his time in Beirut he felt that God was not with him. In time Terry will surely realise what is obvious to anyone who hears his story. God was with him every step of the way! Put yourself in his shoes - could you have gone through what Terry Waite endured alone?

"Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires" - even during his captivity there were moments of happiness and on his release, the happiness was there for all to see. His total inner happiness is perhaps still to come - "the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them". Terry Waite has had some remarkable experiences in his life and when he does take his place in Heaven what better epitaph could he wish for than the sentiments of the people who came to know him so well in Beirut:- "Terry Waite - A Good Man".