Do you really know Mother Theresa?

Mother Theresa

A woman of prayer and love.  An icon for all of us to look to and admire for her selfless acts of love and kindness to others.  I might not believe in all she stood for under the Catholic faith but I have to say she is someone I truly admire...now more than ever.

In this week's challenge, we are asked to pray.  As I prayed this morning, I was reminded of the writing found on Mother Theresa's wall, which is as follows:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  

   Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  

   Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. 

   Succeed   anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. 

   Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. 

   Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. 

   Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. 

   Do good anyway. 

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. 

   Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. 

   It was never between you and them anyway.

Words to take to heart and I pray we all find peace from them.  When looking for this lovely letter, I came across something I did not expect and had missed during the time of it's prevalence.  In 2007, there were several stories about the life of Mother Theresa.  Not the Mother Theresa you may have heard of but one that the media portrayed as a woman we should question. 

Apparently, during the process of the Catholic church petitioning for the canonization of Mother Theresa, letters intended in confidence to a priest and friend at the time from Mother Theresa had surfaced.  In these letters, Mother Theresa pours out her heart regarding her own confusion of faith in GOD.  Quoted from TIME in partnership with CNN WORLD from an article called Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith by David Van Biema Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007:

"That absence seems to have started at almost precisely the time she began tending the poor and dying in Calcutta, and — except for a five-week break in 1959 — never abated. Although perpetually cheery in public, the Teresa of the letters lived in a state of deep and abiding spiritual pain. In more than 40 communications, many of which have never before been published, she bemoans the "dryness," "darkness," "loneliness" and "torture" she is undergoing. She compares the experience to hell and at one point says it has driven her to doubt the existence of heaven and even of God. She is acutely aware of the discrepancy between her inner state and her public demeanor. "The smile," she writes, is "a mask" or "a cloak that covers everything." Similarly, she wonders whether she is engaged in verbal deception. "I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God — tender, personal love," she remarks to an adviser. "

For the full article go to: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html#ixzz1GlWfHznt

Although the media tried to portray this woman as faithless and undeserving of sainthood, I believe it shows she is as human as the rest of us but lived her life for service regardless of her internal struggles.  Who of us can say we do not doubt GOD (whomever that may be to you) or our faith during times when we see destruction, war, poverty and chaos?  Why is that such a bad thing?  What if it is part of our process in growing closer to our creator, to question everything, including creation?  We are but "children", aren't we?  Her outer smile and inner turmoil are but one of the ways we are all taught as a society to act and be.   This woman has done more for mankind than most can commit to.  Although she questioned her faith in GOD and love, she still devoted her life to serving others.  Her messages of love are truth and the foundation we should all strive to live by.

With much admiration for Mother Theresa, I leave you with her words on a clean heart.  I hope that in her prayers she found the connection with GOD and was able to come to peace with her life and faith.