War. Hatred. Violence. Greed. Suffering. Poverty. This is the world we live in. What can anyone do to make a world like this a better place? There is someone who did something. Someone who thought that even one person could make a difference. She was born in Albania in 1910, she became a nun in 1931 and she spent 45 years on the streets of Calcutta, India helping the very poorest of the poor. Can you guess who this person was? MOTHER TERESA! If we were more like Mother Teresa, the world would definitely be a better place. Mother Teresa once said these words “I alone cannot change the world but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Mother Teresa threw the stone and by living like she did, we can be the ripples.
Firstly,the world would be a better place if we cared for the people around us. Mother Teresa cared for people, the poorest people. When she arrived on the streets of Calcutta, one MILLION people lay on the streets thirsty, hungry and dying, so she started to care for them one by one. One day she found a woman lying in a pile of rubbish half dead, starving and wounded. Her body was being eaten by rats and ants. Mother Teresa rushed her to hospital but they weren’t interested in helping someone like that. It was this event that made Mother Teresa realise she had to set up a place, a home for all the women, men and children that lay dying on the streets of Calcutta. She believed that even people as poor as this deserved care at the end of their lives. Mother Teresa cared deeply for people in need. She said “No act of kindness is too small to make a difference”. Imagine what the world would be like if we lived that way?
Mother Teresa did everything with love. So secondly, the world would be a better place if we did everything with love too. What is the greatest act of evil in the world? Mother Teresa believed it is the lack of love. She loved the people who had no-one, no-one at all to love them. Mother Teresa believed that one act of love could change a life, that’s what helped her to keep going, keep loving when everything seemed hopeless. Mother Teresa once said “We do not have to do great things, only small things with great love”. Our small actions if done with love can make the world a better place.
Thirdly, we could make the world a better place if we were more cheerful. Mother Teresa was a cheerful person and she believed that being cheerful was very important. Mother Teresa was known for her warm, happy greeting and her powerful, encouraging smile. To be one of the nuns who worked with her you had to be cheerful and able to smile. That was one of the things Mother Teresa required. She believed that “every time you smile it is an action of love, a gift to that person.” More smiles and more cheerfulness would go a long way in making our world a better place.
Finally the world would be a better place if we could be humble like Mother Teresa. She proved this in 1979 when she won the Nobel peace prize but she refused the traditional nobel banquet of honour and instead asked for all, and I mean all, of the money to be given to the poor! Mother Teresa lived alongside the poor people she worked with. She dressed like them and she even ate the same plain food the poor ate! All her life Mother Teresa wore a plain white sari just like the ordinary Indian women. Her saris cost only one dollar! Mother Teresa didn’t think she was special or better than other people. She said, “ I am God’s pencil, a tiny bit of pencil, with which he writes what he likes”. Putting others first and being humble would make our world better.
Mother Teresa was caring, loving, cheerful and humble. There is so much we can learn from her life. Imagine how different the world would be if we all could follow her example. I wonder what would happen to war, hatred, violence, greed, suffering and poverty?
Have you ever seen a person lying on the side of the the road hurt or begging for money? Did you stop to help? Mother Teresa would. Would you?
| Mother Teresa |
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