A word from Mother Theresa
It was a big privilege for me to meet Charles Mulli personally in Kenya. The former guttersnipe has welcomed over 10,000 homeless children into his children’s homes. When one reads his books one gets the impression that he can never win the battle against poverty. For each child-prostitute that he gets off the street, one hundred still stand at the street corner at nightfall.
The photo above, taken in February 2014, shows the group praying in our intensive care unit. We did all we could, but the ten-year old boy died connected to the oxygen resuscitation apparatus. The doctors and nurses afterwards looked for comfort for themselves.
Last night I found a fitting quote from Mother Theresa. In an interview she said: “God did not call us to be successful, but to be faithful!” Her diary reveals that the nun often doubted herself and even God. Nevertheless her statement rings true.
In the Babylonian Talmud we can read: “Whoever rescues a single life, he is someone who has saved the entire world!” We should do the right things, but even that is not enough. We want to think strategically, win the battle, eliminate diseases and conquer death. But we fail again and again. Therefore, let us lift up our eyes and trust that we and the whole of history are in God’s hands.
A songwriter living at the time of the Old Testament brought it down to the following formula: “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”(Psalm 73,23-26)
