What Matters Most is….We All Matter
Take it from Mother Teresa — we all matter. I see the marches and the protests and the persistent sound bites about an exclusive group of people demanding that their lives matter. I’m not nullifying that their lives do matter, but if we look at the work of Mother Teresa, we’ll learn that ALL lives matter. She was relentless in caring for the poor. She went “against the grain” when it came to pleasing the status quo. From sun-up to sun-down, her remarkable love for humanity was manifested as she reached out to the homeless, the sick and suffering. She was so zealous in her work that it affected her physically. When her doctor told her she must get some rest. Her reply was “I have the whole of eternity to get rest.”
Her love for humanity drove her to untold hours of making a difference in the poor and needy. But to the wealthiest, they, too, were affected by her compassion. She left everyone better off after she had spent time with them. She didn’t see through the eyes of comparison and measuring up to a certain standard.
If she had been in Dallas, Texas, and she saw one of the “beggars” standing on a street corner with a sign that says “Please help”, I don’t believe she would have ever passed them by. I think she would have stopped and manage to figure out a way to help them. To her, they were Jesus. “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” (Matthew 25:35) She was accustomed to picking babies up out of garbage cans. Their lives mattered.
I heard a speaker tell about a wealthy individual that drove up to his church in a Rolls Royce and was concerned about the security of his car when he went into the church. An attendant parked the car in a locked and secure area that the church provides. Then a homeless man came up to the church pushing his grocery cart with everything in the world he owns in it. He, too, was concerned about the security of his grocery cart. The attendant took his cart and parked it right next to the Rolls Royce. I loved that story. They cared equally for both individuals. Both lives mattered.
That’s what Mother Teresa did. That’s what Jesus does. He loves us unconditionally. And isn’t that how we should love, too? After all, God didn’t give us a measuring stick to use on who measures up and who doesn’t. He gave us a measuring stick, and it’s the Golden Rule stick and it says. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And another measuring stick that says “This is the first and greatest commandment. Love the Lord with all your heart, your soul, your mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:35).
In a world that needs this love and compassion, how can we rest on our laurels? Maybe it’s time for us to get busy loving and caring. After all, like Saint Teresa of Calcutta, we have the whole of eternity to get rest!”