Mother Teresa says (Mondays)…

Posted September 29, 2008 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To
keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

Don’t ever feel like you are not making a difference if you are giving out love. I am convinced this is Satan’s way of keeping you busy so you get so caught up in narcissism that you forget to do those things that you would normally do. “Sending out the love message” does not necessarily mean visiting 12 different countries and giving each child you see an embrace. Your love message is simply to love those around you. Don’t get caught up in the various little problems of life, because then you’re not paying attention to the opportunities to love people right in front of you. I allow myself to get into a bad mood way too often. Then, I am not genuinely me with fellow drivers, people making my coffee, or simply the person you pass by. In essence, I turn off the love, I turn off the opportunity to show other people God loves them, because I am too worried about my own miniscule problems. Again, the attack of narcissism. Remember that song “This little light of mine?” I just got it. I mean, I always thought it was just about making sure you were perfect all the time, but it’s not really about your “sinful” or “good” actions, but about being the person God created you to be.

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Mother Teresa says (Mondays)…

Posted September 22, 2008 By Andrea and has 4 comments.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Sometimes we spend so much time focusing on what could be, big dreams or envying others success, that we forget about the daily life that lies right in front of our eyes. It is very easy for me to do this. When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher. My father told me that my gifting was bigger than that. So, when I became a teacher, I somehow felt that was a failure. Somehow I could be doing more and I was missing it. Now, after teaching for two years, I know how BIG of a deal it is. An opportunity to really impact someone, day to day, year to year. Even though I really feel like my bigger gifting is different and I am not supposed to be in the public school system day in and day out, I have utmost respect for people that do and know that it is no small task. They are unsung heroes. So, if I never make it “big” I can be happy. Because I am being faithful in what God has given me, and I am not wasting my time hoping for something bigger in appearances.  I am hoping for a future full of opportunities, but who knows what that means. Like all of my drama teachers ever have said, “There are no small parts, only small actors.”

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Mother Teresa says (Mondays)…

Posted September 15, 2008 By Andrea and has 2 comments.

Mother Teresa is a great figure, someone to be respected and admired for all that she did and the faith she held in Jesus Christ. As I was looking through quotes, wanting to choose one for this week, I was touched but also thought, “No, not today, no, again not today,” when I was reading through them. The poverty of so many in this world is obvious at this moment, and I think attention needs to be brought and love needs to be heeded, but today I felt something different in my heart. Then, there it was, the last quote I came to. Something that has been echoed in several situations the past few weeks in my life. A more direct look at perhaps what the phrase from our mothers and teachers meant when they said that if you do not have anything nice to say, simply say nothing at all. These words affected me, and made me think. The words are self explanatory and simple, but profound.

Words that do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.

Umm, do I ever speak words that do not give the light of Christ?

All the time?

Every day?

Is it out of my love for Him, or love for self? I think I know, but I don’t like the answer.

So, then, encourage one another and build each other up.                        -1 Thessalonians 5:11

Even my question now…umm, Who EXACTLY does that include God? I need a lot of work, but it’s a good thing God is there to help me. I don’t have to, nor can I, do anything worth doing alone.

 

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Mother Teresa says (Mondays)…

Posted September 8, 2008 By Andrea and has 1 comment.

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

Sometimes I want to be selfish. Sometimes I am. Especially about the little things that do not matter. When driving, there are those moments when you literally want to kill the car in front of you, the guy that cuts you off, or the person that shouts “Idiot” out their window when you accidentally turned the wrong way and then needed to make an immediate left into the next parking lot. Okay, so this happened to me. And I wanted to cry, I did not want to forgive him. I wanted to go back and tell him that I made an honest mistake and defend myself for this little inconvenience.

Even deeper than this are our senses of entitlement. We do not want our taxes raised because we don’t like where the money is going. We don’t want to give $5 to the homeless man on the street because we work for our money. We want the prisoner who made a horrible, even fatally injurous mistake, to be put to death. And finally, many want whole groups of people or nations wiped away because they are “evil.” Yet, we are human, we are all the same. We share so many things, yet can find so many differences among the similarities. The idea of “western” and “eastern” seeps its way into our subconscious and we began judging based on things that are cultural or religious, things that are really a matter of where we were born or who we were born to. We decide to breed and hold onto our hatred.

Yet, many of us claim to be Christians, believers in God, or followers of some religion or set of moral codes that teaches to love one another. Jesus commands us to love, not specifying which certain people to show this love to. Why? Because Christ came to die for everyone, to show his immense love for all the people around him. People that were despised, Jesus loved them anyway. Many times his love even acted as a catalyst for change. Once people know there is something more, that they are cared about, they realize their old life does not matter. I know this isn’t true of everyone. But why be cynical when you can be faithful? Why spread discontent when you can spread love? We are one race, humanity, created in the image of God. So, try to remember what Jesus says about others, and try to accept his imense love for you so that you have the capacity to love others. It is not easy for us. Daily we must die, so that we may live like Him. 

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Mother Teresa says

Posted September 1, 2008 By Andrea and has no comments yet.

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.

Did you know that Christians are the most charitable group of people in the U.S., according to studies based on who gives charitably? Why is this? Do you think that Christians are the most loving group in the U.S.? Or do you think sometimes it is from a heart, not of compassion, but of obligation. I would hope to think it is not the latter, but as I look at what “love” looks like to most, I cannot help but wonder.

This is a simply a reminder to remember what’s important. If you do not have a lot of money to give, you can at least give a hug. If you get flicked off in traffic, smile and nod. All people have their own lives and with those lives come its own problems, depressions, and letdowns. But if you have love, you know the grace of Christ Jesus, then why not spread it around? Don’t just give your money and feel like you have done your part. Jesus called us to love one another as we love ourselves. If we were having a crappy day would it feel good for someone to give us $5? Maybe, but wouldn’t it feel better to feel real love, real care, and real empathy from someone around us? Love can mean giving money, but love also just means giving, of ourselves… So don’t just send a check or drop your dollar in the bucket. Write a letter, give a hug, show the love that you know. “…they need your hearts to love them.”

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Tomorrow is Mother Teresa says…

Posted August 24, 2008 By Andrea and has 1 comment.

Tomorrow I will begin a series for Mondays called “Mother Teresa says.” She was one cool lady, and a warrior for Christ and people everywhere. Almost every word and quote I hear from her touches me.  I am sure you know of her, but if you don’t know a lot about her, I encourage you to look it up. There are few people truly celebrated for following Christ, but she is definitely one.

The past year for me has truly been about learning the difference between charity and justice. The Catholic Encyclopedia says of justice,

Justice is here taken in its ordinary and proper sense to signify the most important of the cardinal virtues. It is a moral quality or habit which perfects the will and inclines to render to each and to all what belongs to them.

Perfecting the will and inclining to render to each and all what belongs to them? Wow. Those are strong words when speaking in a society which can force hands in land issues and pay workers wages that will not afford their families the benefit of food. I believe that Christ followers have a call to be faithful in the ways of Christ and just to those around us. I believe that much of what Mother Teresa did in her lifetime reflected this, not just the charity which so many refer to it as. Charity is not justice, though it may often be confused. Some may need some charity for justice to be served, but the fight for justice must never be laid down for the act of charity alone. This is a BIG conviction that God has given me.  

 

I don’t know how long I will do this series, for as long as I feel led I suppose. And do not fear- I will always put into practice of finding out what first Jesus has to say, but that effort goes along with all my writings and thoughts. I do believe that there are leaders and peacemakers before us who we can learn from, and this is just a little delving into an attempt to do so. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy what may come.

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