Tuesday, July 31, 2007

An Inspirational Lesson learned from Mother Teresa

I was having a casual conversation with my sister over dinner yesterday. She is in the midst of attending a course for "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". The course instructor brought up this lesson to be learned.

The incident went something like this:
One day, Mother Teresa was asking a baker for some bread to feed the hungry children in her orphanage. The baker was furious with her request, not only did he turn her down, he spat at her. In response to his outrageous actions, Mother Teresa calmly reached deep into her pocket, took out her handkerchief, wiped the spat off and said "That was for me, now what about some bread for my poor children." The baker was touched by Mother Teresa's love and greatness, complied and thereafter provided bread for the children in the orphanage.

How would you have reacted? My first reaction was a mix of anger and humiliation. How could someone ever do something so nasty? Mother Teresa chose to react differently, she knew that if she had not taken the insulting spit in full grace, the poor children at the orphanage would have to go on being hungry.

The lesson that I learned from Mother Teresa:
When guided by one's purpose, one can choose appropriate reactions to any situation in life. No matter how disagreeing is the circumstance.

I will end this entry with a quote by Mother Teresa which i found from the book "Talent Unleashed", by Ralph J Carlson.

"No matter who say what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work." ~ Mother Teresa

2 comments:

  1. Its a really touching incident..how can some one be so rude??? I wonder..

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    1. this is even worse, how can men revile and out do each other in competition at the expense of another human being?? the roman soldiers out performed one another by hooding HIM demanding that HE prophesy, and tell them who hit HIM, as well as countless other acts. this day is where sin met LOVE!!!

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