Look for the Back Seat

 

Mother Teresa instructed her Sisters to always take the back seat on a bus or train. In her wisdom, she knew that the practice of choosing the least desirable location would help keep herself and her Sisters humble. Sometimes a person in authority, seeing Mother Teresa sitting in the back, would invite her to sit up front, and she would follow him to the front with gratitude. Some critics would say, “That’s the same as taking the front seat to begin with!” But it’s not: By taking the back seat, she took the chance that that’s where she’d stay. It required humility to deliberately choose the lowest place and be content to stay there. It also gave the person in authority an opportunity to offer a kind gesture, which she graciously accepted.

 “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” – Mark 9:35

Being humble doesn’t mean you think you’re worthless. It’s thinking less about yourself, not thinking less of yourself. YOU are a beloved child of God with gifts and talents and, yes, weaknesses that make you uniquely equipped to serve Him in the people around you. In this verse, putting yourself last doesn’t mean putting yourself down. Rather, putting others ahead of you builds them up and helps them see how precious and beloved they are, too. Imagine our world if we all did that!

If you’re a person with power, you can still be humble. In the Gospel of Luke, the centurion’s slave was dying (see Luke 7:1-10). At first, this Roman military officer sent messengers to Jesus, asking Him to come to his house and heal his servant. Then, while Jesus was on His way there, the centurion changed his mind and sent more messengers to tell Him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof… but say the word and let my servant be healed.” Maybe at first he wanted to experience what others had seen -- Jesus performing a healing. Soon after, though, he was willing to ‘take the back seat.’ He abandoned the opportunity to witness a miracle and, instead, asked Jesus to heal his servant from a distance, maybe so he’d be healed sooner. The centurion put his servant ahead of himself by acknowledging the power of Christ and dismissing what he could gain from the encounter.

This week, take a lesson from Mother Teresa and the centurion. Look for ways to put yourself in the back seat and put others ahead of you, not in ways that put you down but in ways that pick them up.

“Lord, help me to see how I can lift up the people around me.”

If you enjoy reading these reflections, please tell your friends! Through this blog, I hope to inspire you to ponder a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide you to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life.

Mother Teresa's 'Anyway' Poem

 (April 21, 2021)   Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem  

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. 

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. 

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. 

If you are honest and sincere, people may cheat you; 

Be honest and sincere anyway. 

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. 

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; 

Be happy anyway. 

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. 

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. 

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; 

It was never between you and them anyway.

Ordinary and Holy

(March 3, 2021) Recently, we watched the movie ‘The Letters’ about the life of Mother Teresa of  Calcutta. (It’s available to rent through Amazon.) Mother Teresa was one of the  most spiritually influential people of our generation. She won the Nobel Peace  Prize in 1979 and was canonized in 2016.  

Mother Teresa has been a source of inspiration for me for as far back as I can  remember. Watching the movie prompted me to do something a little differently for this reflection. This week, I’m letting her do the talking; I’m sharing with you  some of her spiritual wisdom. Her quotes below assure us that, among other  things, giving doesn’t have to be complicated, and that even our ordinary and  everyday work can become holy if it’s blanketed in love.  

I invite you to let her words sink into your mind and heart. Notice what grabs your  attention and maybe moves you to act. May her words and example inspire all of  us to find our way closer to God and each other through our prayers, love, and  service. 

“Sanctity is not a luxury for the few. It is a simple duty for you and me. I have to  be a saint in my way and you in yours. Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great  sanctity. If you learn this art of being thoughtful you will become more and more  like Christ, for His heart was meek and He always thought of others.” 

“Start by making your own home a place where peace, happiness, and love  abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your  neighbor.” 

“Even if we do a small thing for somebody, God, being almighty, sees everything  as great. Even if you write a letter for a blind man, or you just sit and listen to  someone, or you take the mail for him, or you visit somebody or bring a flower to  somebody, or wash clothes for somebody or clean the house… small things, but  God sees everything as great. There are many people who can do big things. But  there are very few people who will do the small things.”

“Pray at home for only five minutes. Prayer is simply talking to God. He speaks to  us, we listen. We speak to Him, He listens. A two-way process: speaking and  listening.” 

“You can pray while you work. Work doesn’t stop prayer and prayer doesn’t stop  work. It requires only that small raising of the mind to Him: ‘I love you, God. I  trust you. I believe in you. I need you now.’ Small things like that. They are  wonderful prayers.” 

“It is so beautiful that we complete each other! What we are doing in the slums,  maybe you cannot do. What you are doing at the level where you are called – in  your family life, in your college life, in your work – we cannot do. But together you  and we are doing something beautiful for God.” 

“To the cast of a musical performance in Calcutta I said, ‘Your work and our work  complete each other. What we are doing is needed in the world as never before.  You are giving them joy by your action and we are doing the same by service. And  it is the same action whether you are singing and dancing and we are rubbing and  scrubbing. You are filling the world with the love God has given you.’”  

“What made me start my work, what inspired me and kept me going during so  many years? Jesus. We do it for Jesus. I take Jesus at His word and He never lets  me down. He said, ‘Ask and you will receive.’ So I ask. If it is for His glory He will  grant it; if not, let us forget about it. God knows what is good for us.” 

“I do not think I have any special qualities. I don’t claim anything for the work. It is  His work. I am like a little pencil in God's hand; that is all. He does the thinking. He  does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be  allowed to be used.” 

“A rich man came to me and said he wanted to give up something in his life – his  house, his car. I suggested, ‘When you go to the store to buy a new suit or some  clothes, instead of buying the best, buy one that is a little less expensive and use  that extra money to buy something for someone else, or better still for the poor.’ 

When I finished saying this he looked really amazed and exclaimed, ‘Oh! Is that  the way, Mother? I never thought of it.’ When he left, he looked so happy and full  of joy at the thought of helping others.”

And, finally: “We can never know how much good a simple smile can do.” 

I found nothing mentioned about it, but I suspect Mother Teresa loved this happy  and hopeful verse: 

“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken  down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which  you measure will in return be measured out to you." -- Luke 6:38 

PRAYER: “Lord, may everything I say and do be for You, with You, and because  of You.” 

This article is a personal reflection by Gina Bedell © 2021. It and other reflections written by her  invite the reader to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer,  additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide the  reader to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for their life.