A Mother's Love

As mentioned in a previous post about books, I haven't done much reading in the last 15 or so.  However, in the last 12 months or so, starting with some suggestions from my brother-in-law, I have regained a passion for reading anything and everything I can get my hands on...mostly free from the library.  While borrowing books from the library is great, I find myself being aggravated at times because I must refrain from dog-earing the pages and marking them up with underlines and highlights.  Yes, I am finding lots of material worth remembering later on.  I know the "e-readers" are becoming increasingly popular - but can you select and highlight passages to refer back to later?

I have discovered that I enjoy reading about people who made incredible sacrifices in order to serve God.  The first couple of books I read explored the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.  Absolutely inspiring!  Most recently I read a book called "No Greater Love" written by Mother Teresa.  Everyone knows who she is and about the work that she did in Calcutta, India, but I was interested in reading something from HER perspective.  Why did she do what she did?  What words of wisdom can she offer?  Did she ever consider doing something different with her life?  The thing that amazed me most after reading her book, was the number of times that she talked about LOVE!

Mother Teresa was able to completely abandon her own wants and desires because of her love for Christ.  She thought of herself as a bride of Christ and intimately loved Him with all of her being.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength" was a command recorded by 3 of the 4 gospel writers.  It is also mentioned numerous times in the old testament (Deut. 6:5; Deut 10:12; Deut 11:13; Deut. 13:3 to mention a few...)  It must be an important thing to do for it to be mention more than a few times throughout Scripture.  Mother Teresa was able to care for the sick and dying because of her immense, personal love for her Savior. 

In point of fact she refers numerous times in her book to the passage in Matthew 25:40 "...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Mother Teresa saw the image of Christ emblazoned on every person she pulled out of the gutter.  She gave food to the famished, medicine to the sick, dignity to the dying & love to the unlovable.  She didn't spend all her time preaching - although she was more than happy to share about Christ when someone asked.  She knew that her actions helped to meet the needs of a broken person and that quite often opened a door to a conversation about Christ's love.

I wasn't left with a feeling of guilt after finishing this book, instead I felt empowered and motivated to help those less fortunate than me.  How can I possibly complain about all sorts of things, while 1/2 way across the world, there are people that haven't had a meal in days?  I don't feel guilty about that, I feel blessed to live in the country I live in.  "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required..." Luke 12:48.  I am reminded rather that we have a responsibility to help those in need.  I think a great number of people are willing to help, but Mother Teresa points out that it is much too easy for people to choose to reach out to the rich instead of the ones who really need help.  She says that in general the majority of people would rather try to witness to a bunch of rich folks than clean the wounds of the dying.  Yeah, she was probably right. 

Love, pray, love, serve, love, give, love and then love some more.  That is a quick summation of Mother Teresa's life.  No task was too gross or too degrading.  Nothing she did was too menial and nothing was more important than for caring for one of God's children.  She understood God's love for her and she was able to show that same love in a very tangible way.  I pray that God would open my eyes to see the opportunities before me to show His love, no matter the cost.

 

Good Books?

I've never been much of reader - as a kid I read quite a bit, but I really didn't find reading enjoyable for the last 15 or so years.  But in the last 12 months I have been making up for lost time and I need your help to keep me going.  I am looking for your recommendations.

The last time I asked for a book recommendation, it was suggested that I read a book called, "Same Kind of Different As Me" - and that was a great book! 

What's good?  What challenged you?  Was there a book you read that you completely disagreed with? 

And check out my list of books I have read recently...lots of good stuff there!

Home sick? Read a book...

Home sick from work today and ended up reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" in the course of just a few hours.  I borrowed the book from my father-in-law because I read a few reviews of it that basically claimed he was preaching "salvation by works" theology and that this was a dangerous book.  I needed to read it for myself.  The fact that I polished it off in a few hours tells you something.  He is NOT preaching about works as a means for salvation, but rather pointing out that a Christ follower who is sold-out in love with God cannot possibly go through their normal week without so-called good works.

GREAT BOOK!  But that description means nothing if I now choose to do nothing.  But see, the stuff is writes about is exactly what I have been tossing around in my own mind so I don't think the "doing something" part will be too difficult for me.  At least, the desiring to do something will be easy.  I struggle with turning desire into action.  How will this manifest in my life?  I don't know yet, but I plan to write about it as I go through this process of changing from a "lukewarm" Christian into a Christian who is defined by love.