Comfort

I have many role models, men and women.  One person, easily, has been Mother Teresa.  Her life and her person has always inspired me.  She lived her life selflessly for others, most known for the less fortunate.  She is most known for providing for the poor, but what truly amazes me is her impact on myself and millions of others without even knowing.

I've always loved the thought of our unknown influence on others.  I first think of the TV series How I Met Your Mother when they refer to the "chain of yelling".  Basically, how if someone yells at you, you pass along the yelling to someone else, and it eventually comes back around to you.  Put any word in the "chain of ______" and it works.

Have you ever noticed how you can be in the best mood and someone else's sour mood can immediately turn yours 180?  I have not only experienced this on both ends, but I have witnessed it in friends, family, co-workers.  I have experienced and seen this happen in positive ways though as well.  Some days I rely on someone to pick me up, turn my sour mood 180.  It has taken me a long time to realize this, but we do need each other as human beings.  We can't go through this life alone.  We also can't have a cause without an effect.  Again, that idea of a chain, and in every case, a connected chain.

Mother Teresa was an undoubtedly steadfast source of comfort to others.  She believed that all people are on a spiritual path that brings them closer to God.  She comforted others by sharing her belief in God's unfailing presence, and always reassured people that they are not alone.

I was never lucky enough to meet Mother Teresa, but she definitely influenced my way of thinking.  Her words alone are simply amazing.  But this reminds me how important it is to keep reading and learning from people of the past and present.  I am easily inspired by others, and it will always be important for me to continue this way of learning.

I am now and always will be on a spiritual journey; one that has included roadblocks along the way.  These roadblocks have given me opportunities for learning and growing, bringing me closer and closer to God.  Mother Teresa gave others comfort and influenced our lives, but it all came from God.  Thus my realization that He alone is my ever-lasting source of comfort, and He is passing it along in His "chain of comfort."

Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. -Matthew 28:20