"Come be My light"

I couldn't go to sleep tonight before writing to say that today (September 5th) is the 10 year anniversary of Mother Teresa's death. Time magazine just published a cover article about her life and spiritual darkness, which has been revealed publicly only after her death. It was astonishing to read, and I'd love to hear what you think about it if you read it too.

"If I ever become a saint, I will surely be one of 'darkness.' I will continually be absent from heaven to (light) the light of those in darkness on earth." - Mother Teresa, 1962

The actual call that Mother Teresa heard to come to Calcutta to serve the poor was, "Come be My light." However in the 50 years that followed what she faced in return was her own spiritual darkness. That she knew such intense spiritual darkness is a mystery to me, yet I feel it makes her witness even more powerful. As the writer of the book about her darkness says,

"The tendency in our spiritual life but also in our more general attitude toward love is that our feelings are all that is going on, and so to us the totality of love is what we feel. But to really love someone requires commitment, fidelity and vulnerability. Mother Teresa wasn't 'feeling' Christ's love, and she could have shut down. But she was up at 4:30 every morning for Jesus, and still writing to him, 'Your happiness is all I want.' That's a powerful example even if you are not talking in exclusively religious terms."

Commitment, fidelity and vulnerability... I pray that we all can model our understanding of love after her. Mother Teresa, pray for us!