Artist: Vihelm HammershøiI have long considered Mother Teresa to be a somewhat ambiguous figure even before she died and the private journal expressing her painful doubts came to light. I was troubled by her practice of witholding pain medication from dying patients, her collusion with the wealthy - no matter how corrupt - to solicit funds and, of course, her vigorous condemnation of birth control in areas of great poverty.
Of course, everyone on a spiritual path could be seen (at least by someone) to be an ambiguous figure, I suppose.
So with that caveat, I offer the following quotation which I consider to be very wonderful indeed:
The above painting is from an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London entitled "The Poetry of Silence".Silence of the heart is necessary so you can hear God everywhere — in the closing of the door, in the person who needs you, in the birds that sing, in the flowers, in the animals.
— Mother Teresa in No Greater Love
Maybe, Mother Teresa's legacy is to remind us that there is good and evil in each and every one of us. It is just easier to spot the evil in others than within ourselves.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn