Love your neighbor "Mother Teresa style".

The book "Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne has not only caught my attention but won my heart. It has now moved to number one on my all-time favorites list. This is a huge deal because I've read it all. So basically it is now number one on a list of 7.4 million. I will probably reference this book in many blogs to come. Partly because I've cried my way through the entire book and partly because Claiborne is a genius. Read it... it will change your life.

In case most of you didn't know, I have a major obsession with Mother Teresa. I have read all the books and seen the movies of her life. I read about her because deep down I want to be her. I want the kind of commitment and compassion she had. Saying all this, I thought I would share a quick story I read last night in "Irresistible Revolution" after I wrote my "Love your neighbor" blog.

Claiborne had an opportunity to serve as an intern in Calcutta to Mother Teresa right before she died. Wow~! This short paragraph is an exerpt from the book about a "love your neighbor" experience with her.

"Mother Teresa was one of those people who sacrificed great privilege because she encountered such great need. People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Sometimes it's like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery, like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget-- her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning in Mass I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn't going to ask, of course. 'Hey Mother, what's wrong with your feet?' One day a sister said to us, 'Have you noticed her feet?' We nodded, curious. She said, "Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not want anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet.' Years of loving her neighbor has herself deformed her feet."

Good stuff.