January 5, 2009
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Hey, friends,
I am reading an amazing book, and I urge you all to get it and read it. It's profound, and I can tell it's going to be one that I go back to over and over. It's a life-changing book:
Mother Teresa's Secret Fire by Joseph Langford.Here's a taste:
(The author is speaking of Mother Teresa's struggles with her own personal dark night of the soul:)
"Darkness need not be the opposite, the enemy of light. When seeded with God's grace, darkness becomes its catalyst. Night becomes the womb to the day. It is the power of love, of God's own nature as love, that performs this alchemy. When embraced for others, when transformed by love, darkness indeed becomes light ...Divine love wraps itself in our pain and darkness, as Mother Teresa would say, 'without counting the cost.' God's very nature as love plunges him headlong into our neediness and , unbelievably, even into our sin. In St. Paul's bold words, 'For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin.' (2 Cor. 5:21)
Mother Teresa would follow Jesus' lead. She, who from childhood knew no darkness, would accept to 'become darkness' for the sake of the poor. She gathered into her soul and flooded with love the very blackness that denied God's existence, drowning the darkness in light.
The importance of Mother Teresa's example, even for those who bear much milder Calcuttas, is in showing how far faith and love can reach in this life - even in the night, even buffeted by pain, with every wind against it. Her victory in the night is proof that the exercise of faith and love is ultimately our free choice, never beholden to circumstance, a decision accessible at all times. God makes it always possible to move beyond preoccupation with our own pain, and to reach out to assuage the pain of others. Rather than isolating us, we can choose to make of life's burdens a sacred bridge into the pain of others."
Comments (3)
Sounds deeply moving.
Celia, this sounds much like my lesson on darkness a few weeks ago. In the Bible, darkness and light are most often contrasted. However, as is the case with many of these metaphorical images, it's not that simple. In a few places, God reminds us that since he made the darkness, he can be in the darkness. In one place, he is described as wrapping it around himself like a robe. And my favorite verse, simply because of the fact that I don't know exactly what it means, is Isaiah 45:3:
I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
The treasures of darkness. What a great phrase. I do know from my own darkest time that the presence of Jesus was as strong as I've ever experienced in my life. Sounds like Mother Teresa knew those treasures well.
Yes faith is also an affair of volonty .
Love
Michel