Called aside

Mark Ch 7 verse 33 says "And he took him aside from the multitude". When God calls you for a special service, he calls you aside from the multitude. To be a disciple, you have to be out of the crowd. If you are part of the crowd, your identity is merged with that of the crowd. You are part of the mass hysteria, where you will be surprised in hindsight (if you ever get an opportunity for the hindsight amidst your busy life), about your own actions and reactions. How could I ever do like that, you may think. But remember, that was because you were part of the crowd. The crowd says, "This is what we all do, so what's different about you". The crowd very dangerously reminds us that you are part of the billions of people on this earth. The crowd hates your individuality. The crowd hates differences. Cults hate differences.

In yesterday's "The Hindu", Naveen Chawla has written an essence of Mother Teresa's life on her birth centenary. He writes, "In 1948 (after almost 20 years of teaching in the convent in Calcutta), in an even more cataclysmic turn of events, again entirely of her own making, she left the convent doors behind her for a vision of the streets".

I like the way Naveen Chawla has unambiguously put it - 'entirely of her own making'. There was a conscious decision she had to take. One step of faith that was needed on her part, which God would then bless.

Naveen Chawla continues "She had realized that this was where her true vocation lay, and she pursued this goal with diligence, even obstinancy".

Again, I like the choice of his word - obstinancy. Her passion was obstinate. What a wonderful privilege for the word 'obstinate' to be used in the context of the passion of this saint!

Naveen Chawla writes on, "She called 'loneliness' the 'leprosy of the West'. When asked how she could touch a leprosy sufferer and clean his sores, she said she could do it because for her that man was the suffering Jesus. 'I would not clean him for all the money in the world' said an observer to her. 'Nor would I', Mother Teresa replied, 'but I would do it for love of Him'. Her hands were always full, but comforting one individual at a time was more important than getting lost in numbers. She said later 'As long as we remain committed to the poorest of the poor and do not end up serving the rich, the work (for the poor) will prosper".

Thank God we have been privileged to have been alive while this saint walked on the earth, and in our country.