RECEIVING IS YOUR CONNECTION WITH OTHERS
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“Give and it will be given to you;
good measure, pressed down shaken together, and running over will be put into
your bosom,. For with the same measure
that you use, it will be measured back to you”— Luke 6:38
People the world over are concerned
about the economic conditions, and what that means to them personally. I have heard a lot of teaching concerning
giving and receiving. But I don’t think
that I have ever heard anyone mention the fact that when we receive from others
that it forges a bound between the giver and the receiver. The Giver
and the Receiver are connected. I heard a testimony that Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, India gave one time that makes this connection very clear. (Mother
Teresa, was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian
ethnicity and Indian
citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta,
India, in 1950. For over 45 years, she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned,
and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first
throughout India and then in other countries).
The following is taken from Mother Teresa’s brief story entitled, To Die like an Angel.
One evening we went out and rescued four people off the streets. One of
them was in a desperate condition. I told the sisters, "You take care of
the others. I will care for this one who is worse off." I did everything
for her that my love could do. I put her into bed, and I saw a beautiful smile
light up her face. She squeezed my hand and only managed to say two words,
"Thank you." And then she closed her eyes.
I couldn't help but ask myself there beside her body, "What would I have said if I had been in her place?" My answer was very simple. I would have said that I was hungry, that I was dying, and that I was cold. Or I would have said that this or that part of my body hurt or something like that. But she gave me much more. She gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.
Prayer—Lord,
help me to remember that your love is always reaching and touches others
through giving and receiving, in Jesus Name. Amen.I couldn't help but ask myself there beside her body, "What would I have said if I had been in her place?" My answer was very simple. I would have said that I was hungry, that I was dying, and that I was cold. Or I would have said that this or that part of my body hurt or something like that. But she gave me much more. She gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.
