Ever since I heard about this collection of Mother Teresa's letters, I have been eager to read it. While she lived, I found her fascinating and more than a little intimidating. I admired her devotion to the poor of India even as I knew that I was nowhere near that level of living myself. We all admired her. We all saw the humor and strength and dedication in the woman. One way we can judge her impact on us is the many different places in which she is mentioned; I just finished a book on leadership which gave her as an example in a couple of places.
Now we know just how tough she really was.
The letters and other writings were edited and commented upon by Brian Kolodiejchuk, a Roman Catholic priest who is working to persuade the church to name Mother Teresa a saint. The book is published by Doubleday. Incidentally, I found the commentary extremely helpful because the letters refer to things a Catholic might know (or might not) but a Protestant would not, and these things were explained and clarified for the reader.
The letters are presented in a fairly consistent chronological order, which gives the reader a brief view of the events of Mother Teresa's life. The book begins as she left her home to become a nun, follows her to India, shows her life there as a nun, and then follows the events that took her out of her original order (Sisters of Loreto) to found the Missionaries of Charity. We read about the beginning of her work with India's poor, its growth, Mother Teresa's own growing fame, and eventually of the decline of her health.
But the treasure of this book, to me, is that we can also follow her spiritual development. She had a period of mystical contact with Jesus, and during this period she received the call to take Jesus and his love to the poor of India. After that period, she lived the rest of her life with no mystical contact whatsoever.
As we read her letters, we follow the agony of that separation and her eventual acceptance of it, a process that required many years. Through all of it, she was determined to serve with a smile, and to give Jesus whatever he required, and to give it happily and without reservation. While she felt empty and dark within her soul, she was a beacon of that love for the rest of us, and we had no idea of what she was feeling.
As a sort-of mystic myself, I can only imagine what it would be like to have that union for a few months - and then have it removed from me. I haven't had such an experience, but I am sure such a loss would be devastating. It probably compares with losing the color in your TV set and watching everything in black and white. It may compare with losing your sense of smell, so that when you eat your food is virtually tasteless.
And Mother Teresa not only endured it, she transcended it, and with a style that most of us could only aspire to.
When I began reading, I admired her. When I finished, admiration had changed to love.
Come Be My Light is a fascinating book. Anyone interested in saints, nuns, mystics of our time or any time, biography or published letters would surely find it as absorbing as I did.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Calendar: January 2 and January 7
The quotation from the Dalai Lama for January 2 says that Buddhism is "more than a religion. It is a science of the mind." (That reminded me of Ernest Holmes, but I won't go there now.) And on January 7, the Dalai Lama made a reference to "Buddhist psychology."
I have, more than once, remarked that Jesus was a master psychologist. I have even had the courage to say that if you remove religion from your reading of his teachings, they sound a lot like psychology. When I say such a daring thing, most people look at me as though I had just gotten out of my Venusian spaceship.
Why are we so reluctant to acknowledge the link between religion and psychology? Whichever way you choose - the pastor's or the counsellor's - you will find increased self-knowledge, a greater degree of inner peace, and a stronger ability to understand and cope with life.
Jesus was a master psychologist. He told us to find ourselves by giving our lives to things larger than ourselves; isn't that good psychology? He told us to forgive over and over and not to hold grudges; don't we understand that it is healthy for us to do things like that? He told us to love our neighbor as ourselves; if we could do that, we would be able to make a better world.
I see no reason to deny that religion and psychology are related to each other. And I don't understand why people are so reluctant to recognize that connection. Religion and psychology are not mutually exclusive. They approach spiritual/mental health from different directions but they both guide you to it. And if you can find such health, surely that is important in itself; you're free to choose your path to it.
I have, more than once, remarked that Jesus was a master psychologist. I have even had the courage to say that if you remove religion from your reading of his teachings, they sound a lot like psychology. When I say such a daring thing, most people look at me as though I had just gotten out of my Venusian spaceship.
Why are we so reluctant to acknowledge the link between religion and psychology? Whichever way you choose - the pastor's or the counsellor's - you will find increased self-knowledge, a greater degree of inner peace, and a stronger ability to understand and cope with life.
Jesus was a master psychologist. He told us to find ourselves by giving our lives to things larger than ourselves; isn't that good psychology? He told us to forgive over and over and not to hold grudges; don't we understand that it is healthy for us to do things like that? He told us to love our neighbor as ourselves; if we could do that, we would be able to make a better world.
I see no reason to deny that religion and psychology are related to each other. And I don't understand why people are so reluctant to recognize that connection. Religion and psychology are not mutually exclusive. They approach spiritual/mental health from different directions but they both guide you to it. And if you can find such health, surely that is important in itself; you're free to choose your path to it.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Calendar: January 1 and January 3
For my 2008 desk calendar, I bought a page-a-day collection of quotations by the Dalai Lama. I did this for two reasons: As much as I love cats, I needed a change from the pictures of cats on my 2007 calendar; and I was ready for a calendar that could give me a little food for thought.
My plan is that when the sayings push my buttons, I will do my thinking about it here. I haven't exactly made any resolutions, but I am determined to practice my writing and thinking skills, and this is a good place to do so.
Andrews McNeel Publishing is the publisher of the calendar, in case they need their "plug" here.
For January 1, the calendar says: "The whole point of transforming our heart and mind is to find happiness. We all have the natural desire to be happy and the wish to overcome suffering. This is a fact, so we can make it our starting point."
What that points out to me is that every human on this rock wants the same things. We want good lives, we want good health, we want material needs and maybe a few comforts besides, and we hope our children can have more of the same when they are adults.
That being said, I will make my best effort this year to realize, whenever I disagree with somebody or really and truly dislike and disrespect someone, that the other person and I still agree about more things than we disagree about. There is someone I will see tonight, in fact, who is lacking in discipline in a way that affects the way she will run the two rehearsals I'm going to attend. My frustration has gotten to the point that I began praying for her for about a month ago. Clearly, she provides one place where I can apply my new insight.
If we could recognize our commonalities, and learn to tolerate our differences, this would be a different world - in our communities, our nation, and the whole planet. I have no influence over those folks in the Middle East who seem to thrive on intolerance and violence. But I can work on it myself. And I will.
The page for January 3 goes on about happiness. I am not going to try to quote it fully, but it says that the key to happiness is inner peace and the greatest obstacles to that are the negative emotions of anger, fear, and suspicion. Any negative emotion, I presume, would become such an obstacle; the possibilities are not limited to the ones he mentioned. The Dalai Lama goes on to say that love, compassion, and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.
I think love and compassion go together; a sense of universal responsibility could very easily be part of the package also. We are losing the idea that we live in a community; it's one for all and one for all now. All for one and one for all is disappearing. We can do whatever we desire, and we have the right to do it just because we can, and that ends the discussion. Whether it causes needless hurt, whether it destroys, whether it harms the larger community - none of that matters any more. To give up something you would like, or honestly believe you deserve, for someone else? Even for the whole community? Funky!
But then, if we all desire the same things for ourselves and our children, can we not give up some things for them? Can we change our driving habits, for instance, to try to help the environmental issues concerned with our gasoline emissions? Or do we think that's what other people need to do, but not us?
So what I conclude after pondering these two quotations from the Dalai Lama, a man whom I deeply respect, is not especially earth-shattering or brilliant, but we can't say it too often.
We are all in this together. It is time for us to understand that and act on it.
My plan is that when the sayings push my buttons, I will do my thinking about it here. I haven't exactly made any resolutions, but I am determined to practice my writing and thinking skills, and this is a good place to do so.
Andrews McNeel Publishing is the publisher of the calendar, in case they need their "plug" here.
For January 1, the calendar says: "The whole point of transforming our heart and mind is to find happiness. We all have the natural desire to be happy and the wish to overcome suffering. This is a fact, so we can make it our starting point."
What that points out to me is that every human on this rock wants the same things. We want good lives, we want good health, we want material needs and maybe a few comforts besides, and we hope our children can have more of the same when they are adults.
That being said, I will make my best effort this year to realize, whenever I disagree with somebody or really and truly dislike and disrespect someone, that the other person and I still agree about more things than we disagree about. There is someone I will see tonight, in fact, who is lacking in discipline in a way that affects the way she will run the two rehearsals I'm going to attend. My frustration has gotten to the point that I began praying for her for about a month ago. Clearly, she provides one place where I can apply my new insight.
If we could recognize our commonalities, and learn to tolerate our differences, this would be a different world - in our communities, our nation, and the whole planet. I have no influence over those folks in the Middle East who seem to thrive on intolerance and violence. But I can work on it myself. And I will.
The page for January 3 goes on about happiness. I am not going to try to quote it fully, but it says that the key to happiness is inner peace and the greatest obstacles to that are the negative emotions of anger, fear, and suspicion. Any negative emotion, I presume, would become such an obstacle; the possibilities are not limited to the ones he mentioned. The Dalai Lama goes on to say that love, compassion, and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.
I think love and compassion go together; a sense of universal responsibility could very easily be part of the package also. We are losing the idea that we live in a community; it's one for all and one for all now. All for one and one for all is disappearing. We can do whatever we desire, and we have the right to do it just because we can, and that ends the discussion. Whether it causes needless hurt, whether it destroys, whether it harms the larger community - none of that matters any more. To give up something you would like, or honestly believe you deserve, for someone else? Even for the whole community? Funky!
But then, if we all desire the same things for ourselves and our children, can we not give up some things for them? Can we change our driving habits, for instance, to try to help the environmental issues concerned with our gasoline emissions? Or do we think that's what other people need to do, but not us?
So what I conclude after pondering these two quotations from the Dalai Lama, a man whom I deeply respect, is not especially earth-shattering or brilliant, but we can't say it too often.
We are all in this together. It is time for us to understand that and act on it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)