Our Evening With Terry Waite

July 23, 2018 Snehal Chavan

Terry Waite stands six foot seven inches tall. He has white hair, a white beard, and kind brown eyes. His handshake is gentle and he is deeply humble and considerate.

The SPCK team hosted Terry Waite at Westminster Abbey’s Cloisters on 19 July. He read from Out of the Silence, his collection of poetry and reflections, and Solitude, his recent book about the power of stillness and being alone. He spoke about his experience in captivity and how solitary confinement affected him.

Many in attendance were younger when Terry was detained and held hostage. They followed his story on the news and prayed for his release. They were touched to hear his personal account, and how the experience led him to shape the rest of his life. Terry decided to devote his time and energy to humanitarian work, lecturing, and writing. He said that, because he’d been to rock bottom and experienced the worst, he knew he could survive. He chose never to take a salaried position again, and to give the proceeds of his humanitarian work back to the charitable causes he runs and supports. 

Terry said that, initially upon his detainment, he was deeply angry. He’d been starved, tortured, deprived, and chained to a wall. He contended with this anger and consciously chose not remain angry or bitter. He decided to understand why his captors behaved as they did – and now speaks about them with compassion and empathy. He said that many people who do unthinkably terrible things have been searching for identity, belonging, and purpose, and that when a charismatic leader initiates them into a circle that commits horrible acts of injustice, they find what they have been missing. This understanding allowed Terry to forgive them. 

Terry didn’t have books, music, pens or paper, or companionship for much of his five years of detainment. He wrote in his head during that time, and it helped him to survive. He said that you have to find a way to maintain your sanity, otherwise you can fall into depression. The writing he did in his head became much of the writing that appeared in the books he published in the years following his release. 

Terry has published Out of the Silence and Solitude in recent years, and his new book Travels with a Primate will be available next year. He read from Out of the Silence which, in poetry form, details the feelings and experiences of his detainment. He said that he didn’t think that writing would be a therapeutic exercise, but that it proved therapeutic as time went on. Terry is very private, but is personal, honest, and thoughtful in his writing. 

In closing his talk, Terry said, ‘The power of love and compassion is greater than the power of darkness and evil in this world.’ We could all learn from his humility, kindness, and unselfishness.