Do good anyway

She was the younger of two daughters in a well-to-do family. Her father was a merchant, but he died when she was only 8 years old. By the time she was 18, she left her home country and never saw her mother and older sister again. Having experienced a religious calling, she became a nun, moving first to Ireland and then to India.

Her sense of calling gave her contentment to live out her days faithfully, carrying out the duties of a nun in the community where she was assigned. Then, at the age of 40, she received what she described as a “call within a call.” She took it upon herself to request permission to begin working with the extremely poor and ailing of the bustling Indian city of Calcutta.

After receiving permission from the Vatican, she became “Mother” of a ministry called the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa spent the rest of her 87 years of life ministering to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta.

Meanwhile, her work inspired people of all ages and religions around the world. She provided aid to lepers, whose disease made them outcasts. She educated children. Her organization also provided places for the dying on the streets to do so with dignity and care. She mentored and trained men, women and youth for ministry among poor and neglected people throughout the world. Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

After her death in 2007, she was made an official saint in the Catholic Church: St. Teresa of Calcutta. She was named the patron saint of the Catholic Church’s annual World Youth Day, which brings together teenagers from all over the world. How fitting that a woman who from her teen years set about serving others would become an inspiration for youth even years after her death.

That’s not the whole story of Mother Teresa, though. After her death, her journals were released to the public. In them, she expressed times of extreme discouragement and even doubt. It may be hard to imagine someone exalted as an example of devotion and service having times of soul-searching doubt. It may be even harder to imagine that this petite woman, who continued working on behalf of others well into her 80s, would have enemies. Yet, she did. There were those who attacked her, belittled her and tried to marginalize the work she did.

So, the lesson of the life of Mother Teresa is more than just her extreme devotion to give her life away so that others could receive comfort and healing. These are of course important lessons, and all of us would do well to learn that kind of devotion to the well-being of others. Just as important, though, is the lesson to persevere even when we experience doubt and opposition.

We live in a world that is in great need of selfless acts of love. Sadly, we also live in a world where acts of kindness are attacked, belittled and even snuffed out. Likewise, we are all subject to doubts and fears, even when we are seeking to do what we feel called to do. Here is where the greatest lesson from people like Mother Teresa comes in handy. Her advice for us when we experience such opposition and doubt: Do it anyway. In fact, one of her most famous quotes sums this up nicely. It is taken from a long poem found on the wall of Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta. It reads in part:

People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

May we do likewise.

This article originally ran on newspressnow.com.