Ponderings

I finally finished No Greater Love by Mother Teresa back at the end of May. It took me quite awhile - I had to renew the book at the library more times than I care to admit. This was in no way due to the book being difficult to read or uninteresting. I just found Mother Teresa's words so thought-provoking that I could only read short chunks at a time before needing to set the book aside and reflect for awhile.

It goes without saying that Mother Teresa was an amazing woman. I think anyone who has ever heard of her would take that as a given. After reading this book though, I feel confident in stating that she was also a woman who epitomized non-consumeristic and counter-cultural living, as well as the giving-not-taking lifestyle that I so much want to emulate.

Below are just a few quotes from the book that stuck with me. Taken as a whole, I think these words very much represent the kinds of thoughts and ideas that seem to be constantly swirling around in my head in this season of my life.

"Words that do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness." (pg. 16) (Gack! Knife. To. The. Heart.)

"I believe that if God finds a person more useless than me, He will do even greater things through her because this work is His." (pg. 66)

"Jesus will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your weakness." (pg. 87) (Wow. I could sit and thank about this sentence for forever. It is so true, so powerful, and gives me so much joy - yet it is also so challenging.)

"You in the West have the spiritually poorest of the poor much more than you have the physically poor. Often among the rich are very spiritually poor people. I find it is easy to give a plate of rice to a hungry person, to furnish a bed to a person who has no bed, but to console or to remove the bitterness, anger, and loneliness that comes from being spiritually deprived, that takes a long time." (pg. 94-95)

"One day there springs up the desire for money and for all that money can provide - the superfluous, luxury in eating, luxury in dressing, trifles. Needs increase because one thing calls for another. The result is uncontrollable dissatisfaction. Let us remain as empty as possible so that God can fill us up." (pg. 95)

"Poverty is freedom. It is a freedom so that what I possess doesn't own me, so that what I possess doesn't hold me down, so that my possessions don't keep me from sharing or giving of myself." (pg. 96-97)

"If you want a happy family, if you want a holy family, give your hearts to love." (pg. 132)

"The work that we do is only a means to put our love for Christ into living action." (pg. 147)

"We will allow only God to make plans for the future, for yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not yet come, and we have only today to make Him known, loved and served." (pg. 148)

What more could I possible say? Amen!