Unexpected

I am writing this post today from the heart of Kolkata (Calcutta), India. It’s about three in the afternoon and it is hot and rainy. Ann, my two sons Joe and Matt, and I are here working for an organization that educates the children of the slums. It has been a life changing experience for all of us.

The reason I am taking the time to write a post at this time is because I had an incredibly moving experience this morning... one that I didn’t expect. I feel a need to share my experience before it fades in my memory. I want to credit my good friend and travel partner Rand Snyderman for his insights on this topic.

Several days ago we had the opportunity of visiting one of the Seven Wonders of the World... the Taj Mahal. I have to admit it was very spectacular and wonderful. As you well know, it was built as a mausoleum for the third wife of famous king. The king himself is also buried in this monumental setting. Despite the majority of India practicing the Hindu faith, this monument is Muslim and considered a holy site. As I visited this fascinating place, I felt nothing.

In stark contrast, this morning I visited the home of Mother Teresa, Missionaries of Charity. This is the place that Mother Teresa lived during the last 2 or 3 decades of her life, and the place she is now buried. As I entered I immediately felt the Spirit. I knew it was a very different place from others I have been. It wasn’t the same as the temple, but it was indeed a sacred place. As I climbed the humble stairs that led to her meager sleeping quarters, with a small cot, and a small desk, in a 6’ X 8’ room, my heart was touched and I wept.

I walked through a very small museum with a timeline of her life. It quoted many of her famous sayings and shared her thoughts as she dedicated more and more of herself to the Savior by dedicating her life to the poor. I will quote from the text of the timeline.

“It was on the 10th of September in 1946, Mother Teresa was thirty six years old. She was on a train on her way to Darjeeling to make her yearly retreat, where she would spend eight days in silence, praying to God. On that train she experienced Jesus speaking to her. He was asking her to give up everything, even Loreto (the convent where she had been living and serving), and follow Him into the slums, to serve Him in the people who had nothing or no one and who were suffering so much - the poorest of the poor. Jesus was thirsting to love and be loved by them. It was a new vocation, a call within a call. Mother Teresa knew that it was God who was asking this of her and that it was to be his work. Still, she was afraid - she didn’t know how she could do what Jesus wanted but at the same time, she didn’t want to say no to him.”

“For more than six months Mother Teresa kept hearing Jesus speak to her. He told her “My little one - come, come, carry Me into the holes of the poor. Come, be my light, I cannot go alone- they don’t know Me- so they don’t want Me. Once she saw a vision: she saw many very poor people and children calling out to her: “Come, come, save us - bring us to Jesus.”

A small plaque rests on top of her grave that reads “Love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12

Mother Teresa suffered many hardships throughout her life. She suffered from many illnesses that were prevalent among the poor with whom she was serving. However, not until her death were her innermost thoughts shared through her personal journal. I quote once again fro the museum.

“There was something , however, that the sisters and the people never knew about Mother Teresa. They knew about the pain in her body but they never knew about the pain terrible pain she had in her soul. She loved God with her whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and she used to feel God’s great love for her. Then everything changed for her. As soon as she began to work among the poor, she didn’t feel that God was close to her anymore, even though she continued to love God as much as before. For many years she felt that God had abandoned her, that He didn’t want her, even that He didn’t love her at all. But He of course did. God was hiding His presence from her. He was letting her share how He felt when He was dying on the cross and how many of the poor people feel- lonely, unwanted and unloved. She understood the poor so well because she experienced the same rejection and loneliness as they did. Mother Teresa did not act on her feelings but kept on praying, loving, and serving God. Her smile smile kept anyone from guessing what she was feeling inside.”

For the past several days we have been working among these same poor. It has been life changing. However, we have done it from the relative comfort of a school. Although hot and poorly ventilated, it has been relatively clean. Each night we have gone home to a hot meal and hot shower. Never have we worked in the squalor of the slums. My heart has been touched by Mother Teresa.

At times when we feel abandoned by the Lord, or feel that he is not responding to our pleas, do we consider that He is teaching us an important lesson? Can we learn to love others as Mother Teresa did, and keep a smile throughout our trials?

On a personal note, I have recently been prompted by the Lord to do something that I consider very difficult. I have wondered how I could possibly do what he is asking me to do. After learning more about Mother Teresa today and feeling of her goodness and devotion, I feel encouraged that I too can do difficult things.