Today I was thinking in my car about Mother Teresa. Ok, yes I know that is a completely random person to be thinking about. But seriously, I was and my thoughts ranged. I thought,
1) I don't know a lot about her as a person. Just that I know she did amazing things.
2) I have a quote by her tucked away in my heart about trusting God. I wonder what other quotable things she has said.
3) How old was she when she died? How did she die?
So on this Thursday night (I am also proud to say that I knew it was Thursday most of the day-- its been a really strange and peculiar week). I decided to do what I have become quite good at: googling. (Though I wanted to do this in the car while I was thinking about Mother Teresa, I opted to focus on driving: good choice).
There are some things that I thought were interesting.
1) At the age of 18 she left home to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary, and never saw her mother or sister again.
2) She wrote often about her doubt, and lack of faith. To the point that there have been several things written about her using her faith only as a publicity shield.
3) I know so little about Catholicism.
4) She was a dynamic woman. I knew that she did great things for the 'poorest of the poor', but did not know the timeline for her life, or the immense criticism she had received for the quality of care at clinics, and the use of donated charitable funds.
BUT anyway- the dryness of the biography and timeline left the desire for some Mother Teresa wisdom, and so I began researching quotes and anecdotes. Obviously for the span of life she lived and the work she did I could fill several blog entries with them, but the ones below are my absolute favorite.
Enjoy. Let them be a spring board for thought in your life as you contemplate the challenges posed by a woman who with all judgement or skeptism aside- loved people in their most broken and desperate state and lived a life directing others to Christ. We need more people like her. I need to live more like that.
"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."
"Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."
"Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary."
"Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts."
"God made the world for the delight of human beings-- if we could see His goodness everywhere, His concern for us, His awareness of our needs: the phone call we've waited for, the ride we are offered, the letter in the mail, just the little things He does for us throughout the day. As we remember and notice His love for us, we just begin to fall in love with Him because He is so busy with us -- you just can't resist Him. I believe there's no such thing as luck in life, it's God's love, it's His."
"Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self."
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