Mother Teresa and a Crisis of Faith

[BlackShanglan]

This article contains some remarkable revelations about the private life of Mother Teresa:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html

To know what she truly faced, and to see how nobly and how silently she struggled with it while devoting her life to others, is sad, terrible, and deeply inspiring all at once.

 

[amicus]

This article contains some remarkable revelations about the private life of Mother Teresa:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html

To know what she truly faced, and to see how nobly and how silently she struggled with it while devoting her life to others, is sad, terrible, and deeply inspiring all at once.

~~~

I read the article and the next page and then stopped, thank you for the link.

I can see you now, leaning towards the screen, thinking Amicus the Atheist...I wonder...

Although I am without belief myself, I am sensitive and feeling for those of sincere faith who live as they believe.

It is not surprising that her faith wavered, nor surprising that she labored on regardless, hoping against hope for confirmation.

Ingrid Bergman in a film, "Inn of the Seventh Happiness", I think, trusting memory, is a small illustration as that devotion and faith that gives one strength to go on.

The life of Joan D'Arc, also comes to mind as a similar reference.

I personally do not believe in a God or in the hereafter, but those who do, those who do so wholly committed deserve respect regardless.

Amicus...

 

[English Lady]

This article contains some remarkable revelations about the private life of Mother Teresa:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html

To know what she truly faced, and to see how nobly and how silently she struggled with it while devoting her life to others, is sad, terrible, and deeply inspiring all at once.

At the top of each page to this article is a little piece of Writing by Mother Teresa herself and they remind me so much of the Psalms -the ups and downs of Spiritual men like David.

I feel now like I am calling out to God "I'm not as Strong as Teresa, please don't take the joy of your presence from my heart."

She is so strong and what struck me was how she was willing to give up her eternal prize, Heaven,to help the helpless.

"If I ever become a Saint — I will surely be one of 'darkness.' I will continually be absent from Heaven — to [light] the light of those in darkness on earth," she wrote in 1962. Theologically, this is a bit odd since most orthodox Christianity defines heaven as God's eternal presence and doesn't really provide for regular no-shows at the heavenly feast. But it is, Kolodiejchuk suggests, her most moving statement, since the sacrifice involved is infinite. "When she wrote, 'I am willing to suffer ... for all eternity, if this [is] possible,'" he says, "I said, Wow."

I say wow, too. What a lady, so aware of the sin of pride and so eager to not give in to it. I am surely proud to be counted as one who shares the same faith and I have just received a whole new sense of awe about this loving, saintly woman. She speaks even through her doubts and her lonliness about Jesus love and how God does answer prayer -though often not in a way you expect or even like.


Thanks for sharing, horsey.

 

[impressive]

I take from this a far different meaning:

It is not necessary to feel Christ (or any other deity) in your heart in order to do good works. Compassion is not based on faith.





This sentence, however, just pisses me off: "Both Kolodiejchuk and Martin assume that Teresa's inability to perceive Christ in her life did not mean he wasn't there."

How fucking arrogant! Let's just say to every person on this earth: You're Christian whether you wanna be or not. No wonder there are religious wars.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

I'm more of the Hitchens school, but haven't had any need to investigate in depth. I'll just say this: There is a danger in elevating "suffering" and dedicating one's life to ministering to it, that the minister may come to find virtue in the suffering as such, and might actually withhold knowledge or tools that could relieve it.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I say wow, too. What a lady, so aware of the sin of pride and so eager to not give in to it. I am surely proud to be counted as one who shares the same faith and I have just received a whole new sense of awe about this loving, saintly woman. She speaks even through her doubts and her lonliness about Jesus love and how God does answer prayer -though often not in a way you expect or even like.

That's what struck me, as well - the immense humility and devotion it took to accept that as special and remarkable as her calling was, she had to live with the same doubt and spiritual uncertainty that every other person of faith must.

This sentence, however, just pisses me off: "Both Kolodiejchuk and Martin assume that Teresa's inability to perceive Christ in her life did not mean he wasn't there."

How fucking arrogant! Let's just say to every person on this earth: You're Christian whether you wanna be or not. No wonder there are religious wars.

I'm sorry that it offended you. Personally, I read it in the context of Teresa's own choices. She chose to believe in Christ, and so it seems to me an act of understanding toward her personally to assume that she had reason to, and that her feelings of distance didn't mean that her core assumption was wrong. Whether or not there is a continuing spirit of Christ never struck me as affecting whether anyone was a Christian; one's religion or lack thereof is about what one believes, not what actually is.

 

[rgraham666]

I can relate. I suffered my own crisis of faith.

I bought into our economic faith; if you work hard and you are smart, you get ahead.

That turned out to be an utter lie. And my inability to deal with that contributed greatly to my mental illness. I was like Norman in that old Star Trek episode, trying to solve an illogical conundrum until smoke came out of my ears and my brain shut down.

She managed to keep going despite that. Good for her.

 

[Pure]

sorry, shang, i see the article as a puff piece. indeed, the supposed revelation of the book is an admission common in the autobiographies of 'saints' and mystics, as far back as John, his 'dark night of the soul'.

m. teresa herself has hardly ever been dealt with other than hagiographically. i've found an extended analysis and 'deconstruction' by an Indian [East Indian] writer.

imp's comment is apt: based on the review, the authors, imo, appear dedicated to furthering a particular hagiographic agenda.

 

[Recidiva]

Interesting, though not surprising, really.

This was a driven woman, and to be driven to that extent of light in my experience, there is always the same extent of darkness.

That she knew it and was humbled before it, was part of her practice.

I don't think they were in conflict. Conflict WAS her practice, and she was deeply in touch with both the light and the darkness. A lady I have a huge amount of respect for, and whose teachings I attempt to follow.

However, as someone who believes in reincarnation, I'm less inclined to look at people that driven as if they were angelic, and more driven to think "Whoah. What did she do before that resulted in this..."

I think she understood it herself in the way a parent understands the suffering and loneliness of the world, yet attempt to shield their children from these truths until they grow up strong enough to face them on their own. She did however share it with those who she believed to be in authority over her, and sharing in her responsibility.

In other words, I dig it, I get it, this just deepens my understanding of the lady and confirms something I always thought I saw in her.

 

[BlackShanglan]

sorry, shang, i see the article as a puff piece. indeed, the supposed revelation of the book is an admission common in the autobiographies of 'saints' and mystics, as far back as John, his 'dark night of the soul'.

m. teresa herself has hardly ever been dealt with other than hagiographically. i've found an extended analysis and 'deconstruction' by an Indian [East Indian] writer.

imp's comment is apt: based on the review, the authors, imo, appear dedicated to furthering a particular hagiographic agenda.

Interesting, because I see the opposite, and also see it in Imp's post. I found the revelations intriguing in part because they do seem to me to also offer the meaning that Imp sees - that the presence of God may not be necessary for a person to do good works. Certainly there's nothing in Teresa's letters that tells us what the source of her strength is - only that it's there.

 

[Recidiva]

Interesting, because I see the opposite, and also see it in Imp's post. I found the revelations intriguing in part because they do seem to me to also offer the meaning that Imp sees - that the presence of God may not be necessary for a person to do good works. Certainly there's nothing in Teresa's letters that tells us what the source of her strength is - only that it's there.

She set herself a huge hurdle. Her mandate was to follow the inspiration of this passage:

"Whatsoever you do to the least, so you do to me." Matthew

True humility and attempt to follow that, placed her below everyone, as everyone's servant. All faces of people were the face of Jesus, and she was in service to all needs that faced her.

To live that in practice is hard enough. To live it as literally as she did, to have to place all suffering and tragedy as holy and above herself. There's some extreme humility in place there. And no doubt huge doubts in attendance.

 

[Pure]

but surely it is quite obvious that

that the [sense of] presence of God may not be necessary for a person to do good works.

the topic is dealt with at some length by simone weil, who, in fact, did a few good works, herself; as well as by Bonhoeffer, in his letters and writings..

it's the theme of the famous novel, "The Plague" by Camus.

 

[Recidiva]

but surely it is quite obvious that

that the [sense of] presence of God may not be necessary for a person to do good works.

the topic is dealt with at some length by simone weil, who, in fact, did a few good works, herself; as well as by Bonhoeffer, in his letters and writings..

it's the theme of the famous novel, "The Plague" by Camus.

No, it's not necessary, but in her case it was her inspiration and her purpose. To carry on with the purpose when the inspiration (or reward) wasn't what she expected it to be, is admirable.

 

[impressive]

I'm sorry that it offended you. Personally, I read it in the context of Teresa's own choices. She chose to believe in Christ, and so it seems to me an act of understanding toward her personally to assume that she had reason to, and that her feelings of distance didn't mean that her core assumption was wrong. Whether or not there is a continuing spirit of Christ never struck me as affecting whether anyone was a Christian; one's religion or lack thereof is about what one believes, not what actually is.

Naw, not offended. Just ... oh, I don't know ... annoyed by the presumption of Christianity as "the" religion.

In my experience, some of the most giving, selfless people I have ever met have been without ANY religion but their innate compassion.

 

[tickledkitty]

My take on this whole thing is that it's just a way for people to make money. I think her struggle was deeply personal, and I don't think we need to know about it. I don't care if it inspires faith in others or whatever other load of crap is being sold. It's simply a way for people to make money off of a good person's name. If she had wanted this part of her story told, she'd have told it while she was alive.

I really hate how everyone needs to know it all now. I don't want to know what was going on behind the scenes with Princess Diana. I don't want to know that Barry what's-his-name and Florence Henderson were screwing during their Brady Bunch days. I don't need to know every fart that's let in the Lindsay Lohan case. I don't need to hear speculation that Cary Grant was gay. I just don't care, and I resent the fact that this kind of trivial nonsense is shoved down my throat on a daily basis whether I like it or not.

Anyway...just my rant for the day. I apologize if I've offended anyone.

 

[Recidiva]

I don't want to know that Barry what's-his-name and Florence Henderson were screwing during their Brady Bunch days.

I didn't need to know that either.

Thanks!

 

[English Lady]

That's what struck me, as well - the immense humility and devotion it took to accept that as special and remarkable as her calling was, she had to live with the same doubt and spiritual uncertainty that every other person of faith must.

Yes, exactly.

Mother Teresa was a Christian, she believed it even when she didn't feel it -that is real belief, trusting in something you can't prove. She had her moments of revelation, as the piece stated and she worked from that.

Christians don't have the monopoly on good works, oh no. We're all capable of it (I'd say because we are made in God's image but many would not and I don't really want a row) and I took the comments as Shanglan did, in context with Teresa's self confessed faith.

Kitty, I think the same thing, I was saddened to read that she didn't want these letters being revealed and that they are being revealed regardless of her wishes BUT I do still find the revelations interesting and inspiring and God does move in mysterious ways

 

[tickledkitty]

I didn't need to know that either.

Thanks!

I thought that was common knowledge by now, as many times as I've seen it discussed on TV, and I hardly ever watch it. Anyway, you're welcome. Always glad to spread enlightenment and cheer wherever I go. Were you aware that Robert Reed was gay? That fascinating tidbit is generally discussed ad nauseum within seconds of mention of the Barry/Florence tryst.

 

[Recidiva]

I thought that was common knowledge by now, as many times as I've seen it discussed on TV, and I hardly ever watch it. Anyway, you're welcome. Always glad to spread enlightenment and cheer wherever I go. Were you aware that Robert Reed was gay? That fascinating tidbit is generally discussed ad nauseum within seconds of mention of the Barry/Florence tryst.

Stop. It. Now.

*gets rolled up newspaper*

Say nothing ill about the Monkees, she-beast!

 

[MarshAlien]

I don't need to hear speculation that Cary Grant was gay.

sooooo, you still like me, right?

 

[tickledkitty]

sooooo, you still like me, right?

I you.

 

[tickledkitty]

Kitty, I think the same thing, I was saddened to read that she didn't want these letters being revealed and that they are being revealed regardless of her wishes BUT I do still find the revelations interesting and inspiring and God does move in mysterious ways

You're right, of course, EL. I'm glad some good will come of it.

 

[MarshAlien]

I you.

Speaking of the Monkees, I feel now like Peter (or was it Mike) at the end of the intro, when they finally got his name right and he's clapping his hands for joy. Incidentally, my thanks to Shang for sparing my life this morning at the duel. I had no idea there was a Slovenian equivalent of Hyde Park, nor how I got there, nor even any idea that you could satisfy honor simply by grovelling. I'm back home now, feeling fine. Thanks to everyone who called and wrote with your concern.

[size=-2]you understand that was sarcasm, don't you?[/size]

 

[BlackShanglan]

Incidentally, my thanks to Shang for sparing my life this morning at the duel. I had no idea there was a Slovenian equivalent of Hyde Park, nor how I got there, nor even any idea that you could satisfy honor simply by grovelling. I'm back home now, feeling fine. Thanks to everyone who called and wrote with your concern.

[size=-2]you understand that was sarcasm, don't you?[/size]

*chuckle* The pleasure was entirely mine. But are you positively certain that you're not interested in that other method of satifying ... honor that I mentioned?

 

[Recidiva]

*chuckle* The pleasure was entirely mine. But are you positively certain that you're not interested in that other method of satifying ... honor that I mentioned?

Now I'm definitely interested.