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In the beginning of my June 13th sermon I mentioned
a book about Mother Teresa written by Dr. Paul A. Wright.
The name of the book is
Mother Teresa’s Prescription.
In it Dr. Wright explains how Mother Teresa
turned his life around after he had come to the conclusion that he
simply was not a happy, fulfilled person. Actually, Dr. Wright had a
busy, giving life.
He was a successful cardiologist, prominent
in his community, and had a wonderful wife and daughter.
But something was missing, and he couldn’t
put his finger on it; however, he knew it was more of a spiritual matter
than anything else.
Therefore, he found Mother Teresa in Mexico,
and they began a fascinating relationship, one that changed Dr. Wright’s
whole perspective on life.
Today Dr. Wright still practices medicine in
the Youngstown/Warren, Ohio area, but he does so differently.
He has cut back on the number of patients he
sees, and he treats poor people for free.
Also, the underinsured pay whatever they can
afford.
Dr. Wright and his family (before Mother
Teresa) had planned to build a new, expensive house; but now, they
continue to live in the house his parents bought more than thirty-five
years ago.
Dr. Wright knows that he will not choose a
typical retirement.
In his mind, we cannot retire from helping
others!
Through the years Mother Teresa showed Dr. Wright
(and actually everyone in the world!) that our purpose on planet Earth
was to help others by alleviating as much of their suffering as
possible.
She did it by birthing the Houses of the
Missionaries of Charity which now can be found all over the world.
These Houses minister to the poorest of the poor,
and Mother Teresa was relentless in her mission to help others whenever
and however she could.
She believed if God wanted her to succeed in
a certain ministry, then He would provide the resources for her to do
her work.
If not, then it just wasn’t time yet.
As Dr. Wright learned, Mother had ten attitudes of
the spirit which she practiced; these attitudes helped her fulfill her
purpose, and we can practice them as well.
They are commitment to community, reverence
for all human life, compassion and love, contentment and gratitude,
faith, humility, tolerance, patience, forgiveness, and honesty.
I believe these attitudes of the spirit can help us
with our prayer and fasting time in the coming months.
In Christ’s Peace,
Pastor Bill
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