a great lady

10 years ago the world lost one of the greatest ladies to walk the face of the earth; no, one of the greatest human beings to ever walk the face of the earth. she died to early and yet made a powerful impact on many lives. her heart for those in need was great; her voice was a voice for those in need who, because of no fault of their own, had a hard time in life. she gave of herself on a daily basis and was willing to give more. no matter where she went people noticed her; they knew her; they felt her; they wanted to be by her. she was a great lady, and one the world will miss greatly.

10 years ago mother teressa left us to stand before God to hear the words "welcome, my good and faithful servant." i'm sorry, did you think i was going to mention princess di? funny, but the world is not interested in mother teressa - she was not as beautiful, she was not as rich, she did not have "royal blood," she was not in line to be queen - yet, as i write this i realize that she was beautiful, because her heart was bigger then anyone i could ever imagine; she was rich, because she honored God and cared for those who did not have; she was of "royal blood," because she was a daughter of the most high God; and her kingdom is the kingdom of God - so, yea she was all that and a cup of tea.

i heard a story that one day the pope gave her a fleet of limos, because [as the pope said] a women of her status should have limos - she in turn thanked the pope and turned around, sold them and used the money to feed those in need - i wonder, would di do that for another?

as i look at the differences between being "modern" and "postmodern" - i am struck at the paradox that is di/teressa - modern/postmodern:

mother teressa is more postmodern - she actually does the ministry - she does more then just "call attention" to a problem - she works, hands on, to solve the problem - she never becomes "the spokes person" for the problem, she becomes the voice that does the work and stands along side others in doing the work -

di is modern, she is the "write us a check" to solve the problem - she does not "get dirty" - but she stands for the photo op where she "touches" one of the fallen masses and asks us to "give of our self" - while never really "giving of herself."

of the two, i am more impressed with mother teressa - and not at all impressed with di - as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the death of di - with specials, movies and books - i wonder, will we get the same about mother teressa?