I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. — Mother Teresa
Did you ever wonder if people would be quoting Mother Teresa if she hadn’t accomplished what she did? Or for that matter if she hadn’t been a nun? What if I had substituted her birth name, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, would you have been more or less inclined to pay attention to what was said above?
“In 1950 Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation which had over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children’s and family-counselling programmes; orphanages, and schools. Members, who take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, also profess a fourth vow: to give ‘wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor’.”
Saint Teresa was/is not without critics for her position on abortion and the conditions in her dying homes, but for many around the world she is not famous for her quotes or wisdom, but for her tireless work for the “poorest of the poor.” Whether you admire her or not, you have to admit that she “created a few ripples.”
I also think she gives us a window into ourselves. Could we do what she did — work amongst this dying of AIDS, Leprosy, and TB? Is what we admire her humility, her work, her leadership, or her ability to call attention to her mission?
Each one of us is just like Mother Teresa in one aspect — none of us alone can change the world, but we all have the ability to create “a few ripples.”
Today resolve to find your “skimming rock” and cast it upon the waters of the world.
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