“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 the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”
Dear Friends,
I found this quote again this week. These words were written on the wall of Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta. These phrases sum up the simple but powerful presence of this woman of God, a woman whose movement of care and compassion among the world poorest made the love of Jesus real!
Mother Teresa’s witness to the world was not with her words. Her witness was not a set of doctrines. Her witness was not a political stance. This small, frail Albanian woman showed the world the heart of Christianity through a commitment to mercy, love and kindness. She showed the world that God truly sees us all—especially among the least, the lost, the left out and left behind of the world. Want to know what the love of God looks like, want to know what matters to God? Mother Teresa silently said to the world, “Come and see!”
Let us be a part of that same kind of movement, one that makes God’s love real
and visible.
Grace and Peace
