Morning Thought for Monday October 17th 2011
Good morning – as well as running the local charity
Mustard Seed Jersey I also do a little teaching. I teach RE or religious
education. In RE this term we began by looking at the life and work of Mother
Teresa. She is a lady who I personally admire very much. For me it is always a
special pleasure to teach about her, how she looked at all people in need as if they were
Jesus Christ, so in helping them she was serving Christ. And I believe the
students I teach find it challenging and thought provoking facing the reality
of real need in the world, and to think of Mother Teresa’s response.
I consider that one of the most challenging quotations of
Mother Teresa’s was about loneliness and how she felt this was the greatest
poverty of all. She recounted an example of a woman
living in New York who died in an apartment. When the police forced the door to
remove the body, they made enquiries as to who the
woman was, but though they asked the neighbours they found nobody knew her
name, nobody knew anything about her – and nobody ever came forward to enquire
about her.
Certainly at school the students agreed that true account
is challenging, makes you think. And I challenge you – do you know your
neighbours? Do you notice if they are not around? Do you know their names? Do
you know if they are alone, if they have suffered some trauma or bereavement?
Does it matter to you? Why not pause for a moment today and think about your
neighbours, your colleagues? Would you notice and sound an alarm if something
went wrong with them?
Mother Teresa is quoted as saying: “The most terrible poverty is
loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”
What are YOU going to do about it? What am I going to do
about it? Here in Jersey.