“We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”

– Mother Teresa

Yesterday was Easter Sunday.  Whether you celebrate Easter or not, its story is one that you have likely heard — one of a man willing to lay down his life for others; one of a God willing to forgive his people and not see them through the barrier of their failures.  I spent Easter this year in a tiny Methodist church in a small village in upstate New York.  There were no seas of lilies that produce enough fragrance to induce lightheadedness.  There was no high-church liturgy.  There was no great organ prelude or choir of hundreds.  But the choir of 20 sang with joy; and the small congregation did the same.  Daffodils and tulips adorned the altar, and the pastor spoke of love.

My story could begin and end right there, but a challenge issued by the preacher extends it beyond 90 minutes and into today and tomorrow.  There are some preachers who deliver eloquent explanations of theology and defenses of the translated meaning of scriptures.  This Easter, the message was both in the words and in the speaker, as the man of God radiated love in his gestures, his smile, and his kind eyes.  He finished by challenging his listeners to go into the world and give the love that they, themselves, so enjoyed.  Somewhere in his message, he mentioned Mother Teresa.

I just love her words about doing small things with great love.  She has grown to be a figure of iconic proportions due to the way she has influenced so many of us to show compassion and love for our fellow man; but, in truth, she was a very tiny woman who did so many small things with such abundant love that we see her achievements as great.  She was the model of persistence.  Her passion for loving was so all-consuming that she lived it every day — amid thanks and amid criticism, amid successes and amid failures.  When we look at the whole of her life’s work, we can’t feel anything but inadequate to reproduce such results.

When I see photos of Mother Teresa, three things stand out for me.  First, I marvel at how tiny she was.  How on earth did she fit all that love and all that influence into such a small package?  Second, I notice her face and her hands — how weathered they are, and how they reflect the hard work and sacrifice that she lived, seeking no credit, in order to love the least of her brothers.  Third, but really first, I see her eyes — the eyes that send out a spark that lights the people they see with hope and love.  How many people did she manage to infect with those eyes?  And still, if you asked her, she would tell you to do small things with great love.  With these words, she teaches us how to live — quietly, with persistence, and being love to the people we meet.

How, you might ask, does this have anything to do with the basketball coach?

It’s funny how we can receive the same message in so many different ways.  My granddaughter is a basketball player.  Recently, she has joined a team of girls her age who will try out for another team when they move on to high school in the Fall.  The girls all love to play.  They have spent the past four or five years learning the basics of the game — rules, skills, and sportsmanship — and now the time has come for them to learn to use what they have learned in a more mature and more skillful way.  I’ve heard it said that sports prepare kids for life in ways that go beyond athletic competition.  Mother Teresa and Coach Jeff came together for me today  to illustrate this preparation in a way I’d never considered before.

At practices recently, Coach Jeff has been teaching the girls to play in the moment, telling them, “If you miss a shot, you need to let go of it immediately.  If you carry that shot with you, it will affect the next one and the next one.”  He doesn’t want them to dwell on their mistakes or their failures that are done and gone.  He wants them to step into the next moment of the game unburdened and expecting success.  He wants them to play with passion for every minute of the game and to waste no time dwelling on past mistakes.  What wonderful advice!  Who would think that our girls would learn the amazing skill of self-forgiveness on the basketball court?  What a great lesson this will be for them to carry with them into life!

“Do your best.  If you don’t succeed, forgive yourself.  Never give up.”

Who writes these words?  Is it Coach Jeff, or is it Mother Teresa?  I am always interested in messages that seem to appear in our lives in many different ways and from many distinctly different sources.  I think Mother Teresa would have liked hearing the coach deliver this advice to his players; and I imagine that she delivered similar messages to her own team.

Go into the world today and deliver some love and kindness to whomever you meet.  Do your best.  If you don’t succeed, forgive yourself; and never give up.

Teresa

Who could have known?

You signed on as a servant

A sister, a part

Of a large family.

♥

You never would marry

You wouldn’t bear children

You chose solitude

You chose celibacy.

♥

Did you have a small thought

That sometimes you are chosen

With such mighty force

That you cannot resist?

♥

And suddenly, everyone’s

Calling you “Mother.”

How did you feel

When life’s road took this twist?

♥

The Old Woman Lived

In her Spiritual Shoe

With children who numbered

A million or two.

♥

And there was no broth

And there was no bread

And there was no roof

That would shelter her head.

♥

So she gave all she had

And went back for some more

And spent her life loving

The poorest of poor.

♥

Did your soul feel despair

As your heart remained true?

On the very worst days

Did you cry sometimes, too?

♥

In your heavenly home,

Is there Peace, Rest, and Silence

And a maybe a Mother

For comforting you?

© Pamela Stead Jones 2008