Mother Teresa's turning point

Just one or two more posts on Mother Teresa. Her experience of spiritual darkness went on for some 10 years before she established a relationship with a spiritual director who could help her understand it. It became apparent that her feelings of being alone and unwanted by God were essential to her ability to fully identify with the rejects of society in Calcutta. They were unwanted; she felt unwanted in her most important relationship; therefore, she was able to enter into their suffering with full empathy.

It also became apparent that Mother Teresa's feelings of isolation from God did not reflect actual separation from God. Because of the perpetual strength of her longings for God and her unwavering devotion to Him, her spiritual director was convinced that her feelings did not reflect the true state of her relationship with God. In other words, her relationship with God was intimate, but her emotions told her the opposite.

Your theology may hold that God would not do this to someone. He would never leave someone feeling unwanted for such long periods of time. But Mother Teresa's story introduces a profound question. What if God shapes his interactions with us in such a way that it makes us most able to reach the world around us? What if God does not interact with all of us in the same way? What if our callings shape the way that relationship feels? What if my relationship with God is not all about me?

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