| A Thirst for Spirit: Mother Teresa's
blessing by Robin Maynard After years of admiring Mother Teresa for her great love for the world, I started dreaming about her. In these vivid dreams, I worked alongside Mother Teresa serving the poorest of the poor and had repeated visions of her holding my hand and patting the back side. I started to be consumed with the idea of traveling to Calcutta to meet her. At times, I wondered whether I was obsessed or if it was a calling. At 29 years old, I came to believe that I was being called to faith. I was seeking out my spiritual beliefs and really thirsting for answers. Other than being taught to pray at 6 years old, I didn't have any religious training as a child. For 23 years, I had been praying to God without really knowing what I believed. What was truth for me? At this pivotal point in my life, I had another dream in which Mother Teresa told me, "Do not come to India to see me, come because you have questions with no answers." Mother Teresa seemed to be a piece of my puzzle that would lead to greater understanding. I prayed to God, "If you open the doors, I promise I will have the courage to walk through them." Within a few months, I found myself on the streets of Calcutta, India. It was a different world that filled me with fear. I was shattered by what I saw. The extreme poverty, millions of homeless people, and families gathered around trash piles in search of food. I had lost the faith that brought me to India until the magical moment I saw Mother Teresa's sisters on the roadside assisting a destitute. The sisters reconnected me to my purpose and what I was there to do. The next day, we (Gerrie Soine, my travel partner) found Mother Teresa in the Mother House chapel. There she was, in fervent prayer, approximately 5 feet away from us. Her presence of holiness made me feel so comforted and so loved that it created a craving for the feeling on a continual basis. After Mass, Mother Teresa blessed all of the visitors and volunteers. I felt her peace. When she touched my head for the blessing, a chill coursed through my body. In her presence, all my fear was gone. She had something that I have been looking for -- an inner and outer peace that seemed to be in perfect harmony in the world. While we volunteered at Mother Teresa's homes for the poorest of the poor, we saw dying destitutes with beautiful smiles and great gratitude. On the streets, we began to see the beauty of the homeless poorest of the poor while they held their children and sang around the bonfire, and the miracle of emaciated bodies walking with strength attained from somewhere beyond physical limits. While in India, I realized that the poorest of the poor had something I didn't -- a powerful spirit that weathered all situations. I found that I was spiritually impoverished. On our fifth day in India, we were given an audience with Mother Teresa. The first thing she did was hold my hand and pat the backside -- the moment and my vivid dream of months before connected in exact timing. After a short period of speechlessness, I said, "Thank you for the inspiration and for all that you have done for the world." She blessed me, gave me a miraculous medal, and asked me to pray for her. Before our time together was over, she presented me with her business card that read: The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer The fruit of PRAYER is Faith The fruit of FAITH is Love The fruit of LOVE is Service The Fruit of SERVICE is Peace -- Mother Teresa Her business card clearly laid out the spiritual principles that she wanted to share with everyone she met. As she was leaving, she once again took my hand and patted the backside. In the comfort of love and peace, I felt the greatest faith I have ever known. Upon returning home, I struggled with Calcutta's poor having nothing but faith, and many of the people I knew, including myself, having everything but faith. This is the paradox that makes faith really faith. Zig Ziglar says, "Faith is really faith when it's all you have to hold onto." Mother Teresa and Calcutta's poor taught me how much I really had to be grateful for and how much I still needed to learn about trusting God. In my quest to have and share incredible inner and outer peace, through unconditional love and faith, like that of Mother Teresa and the poor she served, I have continued to study Mother Teresa's spiritual principles. I work each day to bring those principles into my daily life and into the lives of others. Because Mother Teresa's principles are so important, I have worked to create an I THIRST Retreat to share them. Mother Teresa spiritual principles have made a profound impact on people regardless of what path they are on. One such person is Jeyn Hofacker, who has become my friend and co-creator of the I THIRST Retreat based on the spiritual principles of Mother Teresa. "Unlike Robin," Jeyn says, "I am not a Christian, and yet, Mother Teresa's teachings have spoken to me in a similar manner. I believe that Mother Teresa was an Ascended Master and her teachings transcend any established religion or belief, and apply to every living being. I have no particular religious affiliation and have found spiritual principles very beneficial in recognizing my belief in a higher power. I am a Shamanic Practitioner and that is frequently mistaken as a 'religious belief' when, in fact, it is a profession and does not have anything to do with religion." One of our favorite Mother Teresa quotes is: "Of course I convert. I convert you to be a better Hindu or a better Muslim or a better Protestant. Once you've found God, It's up to you to decide how to worship him." For more information on I THIRST Retreats at the Benedictine Center, please contact Robin at (763) 633-1604 or Jeyn at (763) 449-9494. See ad for dates and times. Robin Maynard is a speaker, trainer, and the author of I THIRST: A Journey Toward Unconditional Faith. Jeyn is a Shamanic Practitioner, trainer, rune and tarot card reader, speaker and flower essence practitioner. Copyright © 2003 Robin Maynard |
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