Servant of abuse

A poem was found inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa’s Home for Children in Calcutta:

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world your best and it may never be enough;
Give the world your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”


In her own words Mother Teresa’s mission was to care for, “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers; all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.”

I can just picture this tiny Godly saint of a woman reading this poem as she prepared herself mentally to go out and face the leprosy, starvation, heartbreaking poverty, filth, and misery that comprised the poorest place on our planet, Calcutta India. And if all of that wasn’t enough, she also had to suffer through listening to those on the sidelines who criticized her every endeavor.

Yes she was praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she also faced a diverse range of sharp criticism primarily for her focus on proselytizing and conducting secret baptisms for those who were dying, for taking a strong stance against contraception and abortion, and for the nature in which donated money was spent without full transparency.

Some criticized her for the standard of medical care in her hospices, largely for her view on suffering and limited use of pain killers. She felt that suffering would bring people closer to Jesus and “The most beautiful gift for a person is that he can participate in the sufferings of Christ”.


She was human and admitted privately that she often could not feel God’s presence and thus some questioned her faith; however her faith that God was working through her remained undiminished, and that while she often pined for the lost pleasure of closeness with God, she did not question His existence. I suppose that anyone who saw what she saw including smelling the stench of death on a daily basis for 45 years would feel similarly.


I wonder how many times the encouragement from the poem that was scrawled on her wall enabled her to continue on to demonstrate the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to the downtrodden, sick, and dying. I wonder when she got wind of the sideline squawkers squealing their outrage and displeasure at everything she did, if she recited the poem and then calmly forgave them; allowing their stinging criticism to roll off her bent over back similar to a wood duck shedding rain off his.

I can envision her going about her good work and muttering to no one in particular, “You see, in the final analysis, it is between me and God; It was never between me and them anyway.”


Whatever method she developed to enable her to continue her good deeds, it worked! Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity started small but continued to expand, and at the time of this tiny Albanian woman’s death was operating 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children’s and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. It had over 4,000 sisters, and an associated brotherhood of 300 members who were also aided by Co-Workers, who numbered over one million by the 1990s




Her mission was to please God. She served in that capacity for over 45 years ministering to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying. She didn’t do it for the Nobel prize which she won in 1979; she didn’t do it to receive the honor and praise of humanity and the awards heaped upon her that were too numerous to mention here; she did it simply to please God.



If you have done something good and were subsequently criticized for it, remember Mother Teresa. There’s an old adage that whenever anyone sticks his or her head over the clover there is a sniper out there with a high powered weapon ready to blow it off. I’m often attacked by mean spirited people that criticize my efforts to do something for the Lord, and who gripe about virtually every undertaking that I manage, (Words for the Day in particular).


Before reading Mother Teresa’s poem I attribute it to satanic attacks and I used to say, “Crap on them Let them be damned!” I also (ashamedly) admit to having had the strong desire on the occasion of having received a uniquely virulent criticism or two, whereby I wanted to pummel the perpetrators about the head and face, kick them where it hurts, and thump them a good one for good measure.

After reading this poem I am a changed man. I now say: “Dear Lord let my detractors be forgiven”

OWWWWWW!!!!!

I just bit my hand and it hurt. It hurt a lot

Okay, okay, I lied; I still want to pummel them and kick them where it hurts! There – I have confessed.

Sadly I must admit that I’m no Mother Teresa. I remain a baby Christian. I want to be good, but I’m weak. Would someone please warm me a bottle.

Mark 14:38
Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”