Mother Teresa on Giving Freely

"Love, to be real, must cost -- it must hurt -- it must empty us of self." 

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This is the first passge I opened to in: In the Heart of The World, a book of Mother Teresa:

At a seminary in Bangalore, a nun once said to me, "Mother Theresa, you are spoiling the pooor people by giving them things for free. They are losing their human dignity."

When everyone was quiet, I said calmly, "No onespoils as God himself. See the wonderful gifts he has given us freely. All of you here have no glasses, yet you all can see. If God were to take money for your sight, what would happen? Continually we are breathing and living on oxygen that we do not pay for. What would happen if God were to say, "If you work four hours, you will get sunshine for two hours."? How many of us would survive then?

Then I told them, "There are many congregations that spoil the rich; it is good to have one congregation in the name of the poor, to spoil the poor."

There was profound silence; nobody said a word after that.

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"I must be willing to give whatever it takes to do good to others. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me."

"Every act of love is a work of peace, no matter how small."

"Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and seeing His hand in every happening ---  that is contemplation in the heart of the world."

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I am not religious. I have posted these because of their resonance of Heart that example
humility and compassion. I feel Mother Teresa cared not so much for the structure of religion, rather that she used religion as the vehicle of expreesion for the Heart she came to know so intimately.

Peace, Skeye